Background
Timothy Graves appeared before the Court of Appeal for Ontario on a matter arising from proceedings in a lower court. At the bail hearing below, a non-publication order was imposed pursuant to s. 517 of the Criminal Code, R.S.C. 1985, c. C-46. Section 517 empowers a justice, on application by an accused, to direct that evidence taken, information given, representations made, and reasons given at a show-cause (bail) hearing shall not be published, broadcast, or transmitted in any way until the accused is discharged or, if ordered to stand trial, until the trial is concluded.
The matter came before Associate Chief Justice Fairburn sitting as a motion judge on May 26, 2026. Alison Craig appeared for the applicant Graves, and Jeremy Tatum appeared for the respondent Crown.
The court issued its reasons on June 12, 2026, but the content of the decision falls squarely within the scope of the s. 517 order imposed at the bail hearing, preventing public release of the full reasons at this time.
The Court’s Holding
Justice Fairburn held that because the decision in R. v. Graves, 2026 ONCA 427 contains information covered by the existing s. 517 non-publication order, the decision cannot be published, broadcast, or transmitted to the public while that order remains in force. The court therefore withheld the full reasons from its public website pending the expiry or lifting of the publication ban.
In the interim, the court directed that a copy of the full decision is available at the Registry of the Court of Appeal for Ontario, 130 Queen Street West, Toronto, for those who may be entitled to access it outside the publication ban’s prohibitions.
Key Takeaways
- A s. 517 Criminal Code publication ban imposed at a bail hearing extends to and restricts publication of any Court of Appeal decision that reproduces or depends upon the protected information.
- Where a publication ban prevents public release of reasons, the Court of Appeal will withhold the decision from its website until the ban ceases to be in effect, while making the full text available through the court registry.
- The substantive merits of the underlying motion or appeal in Graves are not publicly available at this time and cannot be reported upon.
Why It Matters
This procedural notice illustrates the practical reach of s. 517 publication bans in Canadian criminal proceedings. Such bans, designed to protect an accused’s right to a fair trial by preventing prejudicial pre-trial publicity, can operate to shield not only the bail hearing transcript but also any appellate reasons that would otherwise be public record — effectively keeping significant court decisions off public dockets until the underlying criminal proceedings conclude.
For practitioners and legal journalists, the case is a reminder that appellate decisions involving bail matters may be publicly inaccessible for extended periods, and that the court registry remains the appropriate access point when a publication ban is in place. The full legal significance of the court’s actual ruling on the motion cannot be assessed until the s. 517 order ceases to be in effect.