OHTA.ca

Hi, new here. Can I change the venue of my trial? I have not yet mailed the ticket in to request trial. I am working away from home. About 260 km from home. I go home every 2 weeks only for a day. I just got a speeding ticket. By the time they get my court date, likely 10 or more months from now, I won't be working far from home anymore. I will be at home. The trial will be in Owen Sound. I live in Pickering. I interpret the act to allow me affordable access to court. Driving to Owen sound will impart unfair financial hardship given my financial circumstances at home. Is it possible to request a change of venue?

If it's anything like criminal court then a change of venue can only be made for a guilty plea. Why would the witnesses have to travel a huge distance instead of the accused is likely one of the reasons.

Thanks for the reply.

I realize the region of the alleged offense seems fair to try the accused there but then again Ontario is Ontario is Ontario and I was charged in Ontario under an Ontario act, not a Saugeen Shores act, and every Ontarian has the right to access to justice, an equal ability to use the tools of defense. I am blocked from doing that by being forced to travel far away for trial. By rights if the world were just, the one who does the accusing should be the one that suffers the burden of travel if needed(after all the witness is a cop and it would be police business so he would not be paying for any of it), but of course the law is not for me, it's meant to be stacked against me. So, no, there isn't such a provision I can avail myself of?

madbrad wrote:So, no, there isn't such a provision I can avail myself of?

Correct. As argyll said, you can't get the trial moved for a speeding ticket.

madbrad wrote: By rights if the world were just, the one who does the accusing should be the one that suffers the burden of travel if needed(after all the witness is a cop and it would be police business so he would not be paying for any of it), but of course the law is not for me, it's meant to be stacked against me.

I understand why you feel it's an inconvenience, but it actually makes sense that trials take place in the same region as the offence. Imagine for a moment that you were the victim in an accident; say you got rear ended while stopped at a red light in Pickering. Would it make sense that you should be required to drive to North Bay for the trial if the other driver was from there? Even if it only applied to the police, it really wouldn't be feasible to constantly have them travelling all over the Province. Instead of being tied up in Court for an hour on a simple trial, they'd now be tied up for one or two days travelling back and forth between cities.

If you really want to fight the ticket, you can always have someone represent you in Court if you're not attending. If you're simply seeking a plea to a lesser offence/speed, some jurisdictions allow plea deals to be made over the phone.

Yeah I know, just wanted to be sure.

but a phone plea deal sounds intriguing. Where would I look to find that?