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Highway Traffic Act Offences

The Provincial Offences Act governs the procedure for the many regulations under various legislation enacted by the Provincial Government with respect to health, safety, maintenance, municipal codes, building codes, etc. If you commit such an offence under a said act, you must appear at a Provincial Offences court in front of a Justice of the Peace. There you can represent yourself or retain counsel to defend your interests and you do have the option of running a trial with respect to the allegations involved. 

The most frequent offences that an individual will encounter will under the Highway Traffic Act, which regulates all driving in Ontario. Highway Traffic Act violations such as speeding, failing to stop and numerous other traffic offences are heard in the Provincial Offences court before a Justice of the Peace.

You can trigger the option of a trial if you are given a traffic ticket by indicating, within 15 days, in the box at the back of the ticket that you wish to defend the matter. The usual procedure is to have the matter scheduled for trial and, on that date, you can proceed to the trial or advise the court that you wish to have an adjournment in order to retain counsel.

There are technical defences available for Highway Traffic Act charges (especially speeding) and you should retain experienced counsel in order to defend such actions.  While it may on its face be cut and dry, it is still up to the police and the Provincial Prosecutor to prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt. Therefore, counsel should be retained in order to provide an opinion and represent you at a trial of the matter to defend your interests.

If you require assistance with a Highway Traffic Act offence, contact one of our criminal lawyers at Evans, Bragagnolo & Sullivan in Timmins or Temiskaming Shores.