In Ontario, speeding tickets are very hard to beat because the caselaw basically allows the Justice of the Peace and the Judge to simply accept what the officer says as fact. If the officer says you were speeding, then it must be true! If the officer says they were trained on the Radar or Lidar device, then it must be true! If the officer says the device was working properly at the time, then it must be true! Of course we know that just because the officer believes the Radar or Lidar was working properly, does not mean it actually was. With an expert witness, you can then challenge the credibility of the officers statements and bring evidence that shows the device may not have been accurate at the time it was used.

You should also read the following post on why you need an Expert Witness: Caselaw regarding the need for an Expert Witness

This is not legal advice and is for informational purposes only.

The purpose of an expert witness is to bring unbiased information to the court so the Justice of the Peace or Judge can make a better informed decision. An expert witness possesses special knowledge and experience going beyond that of the trier of fact. (see R. v. Beland, [1987] 2 S.C.R. 398, at paragraph 16).

In Ontario, the courts simply take at face value the officers statement that they are a qualified radar/lidar operator and that they believe the device was working properly at the time, and therefore the speed reading was correct. Even cross-examination of the officer on these points is mostly useless because the court will say “there is no statuatory requirement as to what a qualified operator is, so they say they were trained, so it must be true, and they say it was working properly, so it must be true”.

The only way to you can beat it, is for the defence to put their own expert on the stand who can explain why the device has a very good chance of NOT being accurate (since they are NEVER calibrated in Ontario).
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This is not legal advice and is for informational purposes only.

So you are thinking “I want to represent myself in court” … well good for you! But most likely you are going to lose. Why do I say that? Because you don’t know the RULES.
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This is not legal advice and is for informational purposes only.

DRIVING A VEHICLE IN CANADA:
When you are detained by police (pulled over at the side of the road, DUI/RIDE checkpoint, etc), section 10(a) of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms requires them to tell you why. So whenever you are stopped, and they come to your vehicle window, immediately ask them:

* Why did you stop me?
* Am I being detained?

DO NOT ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS:
Be nice and be polite (they have guns), but remember you do not have to answer any questions. Always answer “I CHOOSE NOT TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS, THANK YOU” or “I DO NOT WISH TO MAKE A STATEMENT, THANK YOU” to everything they ask you. This is your fundamental right to be free from self-incrimination and therefore not provide police with evidence that may be used against you. Everything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. Also remember that you should never lie to police. It much better to say “no comment” than to lie.
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This is not legal advice and is for informational purposes only.

In Ontario, your right to a speedy trial used to kick in after 10 to 12 months, but with the Jordan decision, it was (sort of) raised to 18 months.

The following are my thoughts and comments on the R v Jordan 2016 SCC 27, [2016] 1 SCR 631 decision regarding the Right to a Speedy Trial under Charter Section 11b.

You can find it here if you want to read it yourself:
https://scc-csc.lexum.com/scc-csc/scc-c … 7/index.do
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