ManitobaThe union representing prosecutors in Manitoba is calling for provincial court changes that it says would give Crown attorneys enough time to properly prepare for bail hearings.At least 24 hours notice should be required prior to case appearing for bail hearing: Crown attorneysCaitlyn Gowriluk · CBC News · Posted: Sep 22, 2025 1:55 PM EDT | Last Updated: 3 hours agoThe recommendations laid out in a discussion paper, released Monday morning by the Crown prosecutors’ union, come amid heightened calls for changes to Canada’s bail system. (Chelsea Kemp/CBC)The union representing prosecutors in Manitoba is calling for provincial court changes that it says would give Crown attorneys enough time to properly prepare for bail hearings.The current process leaves them drowning in prep work and wastes crucial public resources, the union says.Among the recommendations, they want the provincial court of Manitoba to issue a practice directive requiring 24 hours notice before a case can appear before a judge for a contested bail hearing.Those hearings happen when prosecutors oppose a person being released before charges are dealt with. The Crown presents reasons a person should stay in custody, while the person’s defence outlines a plan, including conditions like curfews or ankle monitors, to address concerns around the person’s release.The latest recommendations were laid out in a discussion paper the Manitoba Association of Crown Attorneys released Monday morning, and come amid heightened calls for changes to Canada’s bail system and related concerns about public safety.The union’s discussion paper says while Crown attorneys play a “critical role” in bail hearings by providing information “to assist the court in making the best decision possible,” the way things happen right now in Winnipeg bail courts makes the task “incredibly difficult.””The atmosphere in bail court is exceptionally fast-paced and frenzied, given the number of matters that could potentially go before a judge,” the document says.Prosecutors currently have “limited to no certainty” before court starts about which matters on the docket will actually proceed with a bail hearing, it says.There are also often more than 100 accused people on the bail triage docket, where matters appear before they are transferred into another courtroom for a bail hearing before a judge, the discussion paper says.That leaves prosecutors to manage an “astonishing” volume of material while being “put in an impossible position to both conduct the bail docket and prepare for all potential bail hearings,” it says.The information prosecutors review before a bail hearing include an accused person’s criminal record, the details of any previous releases from custody, the defence’s release plan and the circumstances of the victim, in cases of domestic violence.”When Crown attorneys are unable to carry out these significant duties to the public, the accused and the court, our justice system suffers,” the discussion paper says.”More to the point, the many accused appearing on a bail docket on any given day will not make bail applications that day, and the unnecessary preparatory work required by Crown attorneys in these circumstances is an inefficient and wasteful use of public resources,” which it says are “desperately needed to ensure safe communities.”Prosecutors are also sometimes required to stay in bail court into the early evening, and when they leave, most spend part of their evening reviewing files for the next day and staying on top of regular files and assignments, the discussion paper says. “Public safety and public confidence in the administration of justice would be better served by a system that allows Crown attorneys appropriate notice of a bail hearing and adequate time to prepare for those hearings and for the judge to hear fulsome submissions,” it says.The discussion paper also proposes one other change it says would give prosecutors greater certainty around which matters on the docket are actually proceeding with a bail hearing each day.That recommendation involves how matters are dealt with once they’ve left the bail triage docket without proceeding to a hearing.Right now, an accused person’s matter is allowed to stay on that triage docket for five days before being adjourned out of that court, if they don’t go for a bail hearing. However, they can ask to have their charges put back on that docket virtually any time — and when they are, their matter can continue to be adjourned for another five days.Manitoba an outlier: unionInstead, the union says, if a matter is brought back on the triage docket after being adjourned, it should have to proceed to bail court the next day. If it doesn’t, it should be adjourned off the triage docket again, the discussion paper says.While practice varies in provinces like British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Ontario, “virtually all require some notice prior to the commencement of court.”Manitoba appears to be the only jurisdiction “where matters can be put into a judge’s bail court after that court has started sitting and with no notice,” the discussion paper says.ABOUT THE AUTHORCaitlyn Gowriluk has been writing for CBC Manitoba since 2019. Her work has also appeared in the Winnipeg Free Press, and in 2021 she was part of an award-winning team recognized by the Radio Television Digital News Association for its breaking news coverage of COVID-19 vaccines. Get in touch with her at caitlyn.gowriluk@cbc.ca.Follow Caitlyn Gowriluk on X
Manitoba prosecutors’ union calls for changes to ‘frenzied’ bail court process
