Do I have to go to a court hearing?

If your partner doesn’t agree to ​“enter into” the peace bond, there will be a hearing.

The Crown counsel office will let you know the date of the hearing and will schedule a short interview with you before you go to court. At that interview, you’ll be able to tell Crown counsel (also called the Crown) what conditions you’d like in the peace bond. For example, you may ask that the peace bond says that your partner can’t have contact with you and/​or your children, or that your partner only be allowed to contact you and/​or your children indirectly, through a friend or relative. A peace bond can include an order not to use drugs or alcohol or not to have firearms or weapons. The judge makes the final decision about what conditions will be in the peace bond.

At the court hearing, the Crown will present the case for why a peace bond is needed, and call you as the main witness to testify. The Crown will ask you to explain to the judge why you’re afraid of your partner and what’s happened to make you feel this way.

The Crown is allowed to call other witnesses to support your request for a peace bond.

Your partner, or their lawyer if they have one, is allowed to ask you and other Crown witnesses questions during the hearing. Your partner can also testify about their own version of the events and call their own witnesses. If you don’t want your partner to be able to ask you questions, ask the Crown to appoint a lawyer to cross-examine you instead.

If the judge decides that you have reasons to be afraid, the judge will order your partner to enter into and sign the peace bond. The peace bond will contain the list of conditions that your partner must obey and the date the peace bond will expire. The peace bond can last up to one year. The judge may ask your partner to deposit a certain amount of money to make sure they keep their promise to obey the conditions.