In Canadian law, a peace bond is an order from a criminal court that requires a person to keep the peace. A peace bond is a court order to keep the peace and be on good behavior for a period of time. This essentially means that the person must not be charged with a criminal offence
Peace bond is issued when the crown is strongly convinced that no guilt has happened. A person does not plead guilty when they enter into a peace bond. There is no finding of guilt made or conviction registered if a person agrees to a peace bond.
The bond is usually set for twelve months. If charges are withdrawn, the prosecution of those charges is finished and those same charges can never be brought back. It will be considered a dismissed case in the US legal system.
There is no equal order to the peace bond in the US system. If charges are withdrawn by a peace bond in Canada, since there is no conviction or admission of any guilt, they do Not Result in US inadmissibility under INA ยง 212 (a) (2); the issuance of a peace bond does not meet the definition for a conviction, in addition a judge does not make a judgment of guilt when a peace bond is issued. In these cases, after the twelve months peace bond, all the police records related to the withdrawn charge will be destroyed.
As a result a withdrawn charge with peace bond in Canadian legal system, is most equal to a dismissed charge in the US legal system.
Famous quotes containing the words peace and/or bond:
“So he came and proclaimed peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near; for through him both of us have access in one Spirit to the Father.”
—Bible: New Testament, Ephesians 2:17.
“The ideal of men and women sharing equally in parenting and working is a vision still. What would it be like if women and men were less different from each other, if our worlds were not so foreign? A male friend who shares daily parenting told me that he knows at his very core what his wife’s loving for their daughter feels like, and that this knowing creates a stronger bond between them.”
—Anonymous Mother. Ourselves and Our Children, by Boston Women’s Health Book Collective, ch. 6 (1978)