As any court of justice can issue an order; you must abide by them unless you have a lawful excuse (which includes a medical emergency).

The consequence of Disobeying a Court Order could be up to 2 years of imprisonment.

You must always abide by the limitations of your probation. The only time a breach is permitted is with a “lawful excuse”.

The consequence of breaching your probation is called a Failure to Comply and could lead to up to 4 years of imprisonment.

An Undertaking is when you are released on a promise to appear, with the standard condition, keep the peace and be of good behaviour. Other conditions are often imposed such as not to communicate with a certain individual, or not to possess weapons.

The punishment for this breach could be up to 2 years imprisonment.

If you are put on a Peace Bond, this is not an admission of criminal or civil liability, but you are required to keep the peace and be of good behaviour for the duration of the bond usually for a year. The punishment for this breach could be up to 4 years of imprisonment.

Any sort of a court order, be it a summons, promise to appear, recognizance or undertaking is a court order requiring you to attend court. Failure to do this will result in this charge and can lead to a jail sentence that could carry a minimum of 30 days.

When charged with breaching a Court order, most people feel that they should either explain why they breached to the police or why they were confused about the Court order in the first place. That said, this always leads to an accused person saying something that only helps solidify their future conviction. For this reason, exercise your right to remain silent, and explain these issues to East Law. Counsel at East Law will take what you say into account in defending your case and phrase your concerns to the Prosecutor and Court in a way that avoids this pitfall.