I cannot find a surety, can I pay one?
No, you cannot pay or indemnify (promise to repay) a surety in any way. Sureties function as the court’s “jailors in the community”. Canada’s legal system ensures sureties take their job seriously by maintaining a threat of significant monetary penalty if the accused breaches their bail conditions under their surety’s watch.
Paying a surety or accepting payment to be a surety not only makes a person ineligible to be a surety (and thus may result in bail not being granted or bail being revoked), but it will risk a potential prosecution for Obstruction of Justice (Indemnifying a Surety) under s. 139 (1) of the Criminal Code.
