Expertise : Royle Law | Criminal and DUI Lawyers Toronto

General

Edward H. Royle & Partners LLP is a full-service criminal defence firm covering trial and appeal matters in the Greater Toronto Area and beyond.

We handle a wide variety of criminal charges under the Criminal Code of Canada and the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, including theft, drug possession/trafficking, firearms offences, property offences, impaired driving/driving “over 80”, breaches of court orders, assault, sexual assault, and homicide.

As a full-service firm, we are able to manage your criminal case at every stage of proceedings: providing counsel upon arrest, bail hearings, bail variations, first and subsequent court appearances, judicial pre–trials, preliminary inquiries, trials in both the Ontario Court of Justice and Superior Court of Justice, and appeals from conviction and/or sentence to the Ontario Court of Justice, Superior Court of Justice, Ontario Court of Appeal, and Supreme Court of Canada.

Although we are primarily devoted to defending criminal matters, we are also experienced in defending matters of a quasi–criminal nature including traffic tickets, provincial offences and regulatory offences.

If you require any of these services, please contact us promptly to arrange a meeting. The first consultation is always free of charge and can be arranged to fit your schedule. Although our office is located in downtown Toronto, our criminal defence firm represents clients outside Toronto as well. We regularly attend court in cities such as Brampton, Oshawa, Newmarket, Milton, Hamilton, Brantford, Orangeville, Barrie, Orillia, Guelph, Kitchener, St. Catharines, and Welland. Our diverse team of criminal defence lawyers and articling students can communicate with you in French, Spanish, Serbian, and Arabic.

Criminal Offences

Edward Royle and Partners is a criminal defence firm based in downtown Toronto. Our lawyers have conducted thousands of trials and appeals. We take pride in achieving the best possible results for our clients.

Over 125 years combined experience

Certified Criminal Specialists

Successfully defended all criminal charges, including homicide, fraud, sexual assault, assaults, firearms, drugs, driving offences, fraud, robbery

Servicing all of Ontario, and regularly appearing throughout the Greater Toronto Area

Dedicated appeal lawyers

All of our criminal lawyers work exclusively in criminal defence work. Through fearless and exceptional advocacy, we will represent you effectively at every stage of a criminal proceeding. We tailor a unique and effective approach to the specific facts of each and every case.

The best way to understand your rights is to speak with a lawyer who has expertise in criminal law. We are available to our client 24 hours a day and commit to responding to client communications promptly.

Appeals

About Us

Over 125 years experience
Certified Criminal Specialist
Successfully defended countless cases, including homicide, sexual assault, fraud, all drug offences, driving offences, robbery
Regularly appear throughout the Greater Toronto Area
Dedicated appeal lawyers

Who is eligible for a criminal appeal?

You are eligible for an appeal if you have been convicted of a provincial or criminal offence. You can appeal the conviction or the sentence or both. The sentence you are seeking to appeal may include probation, jail, or ancillary orders – such as driving prohibitions, weapons prohibitions, or restitution.

If you have had a preliminary inquiry in the Ontario Court of Justice and have been committed to stand trial in the Superior Court of Justice, you can also apply to have the committal order overturned. This is called an application for certiorari.

How do you apply for a criminal appeal?

In order to initiate a criminal appeal, you must file a Notice of Appeal within 30 days of the sentence. If you were convicted of a summary conviction offence, your Notice of Appeal must be filed with the Superior Court of Justice. If you were convicted of an indictable offence, your Notice of Appeal must be filed with the Ontario Court of Appeal.

Once your Notice of Appeal has been filed, you must order all transcripts and exhibits from the trial. To complete the appeal, you must file copies of all transcripts with the court, an appeal book containing the exhibits, a factum, and a book of authorities. Once all the materials are filed, you will receive a date to attend court to provide oral submissions on the appeal. The appellate court may render a decision right away, or may reserve the decision and release it at a subsequent date.

If you have exceeded the 30 day notice period, you may still initiate an appeal by filing an Application for Extension of Time to Appeal.

The same process applies for a certiorari application, which is initiated by filing a Notice of Application in the Superior Court of Justice.

How can we help?

As experienced appellate counsel, we will handle the appeal from beginning to end. By thoroughly reviewing the transcripts and exhibits filed at the trial level, as well as the judgment for conviction and sentence, we will be able to learn everything that happened at your trial or guilty plea. We will then conduct comprehensive legal research in order to identify any legal argument that can be advanced on the appeal. We will prepare the most persuasive written and oral arguments available, in order to give you your best chance of success.

What are my chances of success?

Every appeal turns on the facts of the case. The goal is always to overturn the conviction and secure an acquittal on the appeal or, alternatively, a retrial. On sentence appeals, the goal is to reduce the sentence as much as possible, or to remove or reduce ancillary orders. Our experienced and fearless appellate counsel have successfully appealed many cases, including:

R v LC: conviction for attempted murder overturned on appeal with a new trial ordered. Crown declined to reprosecute.

R v OT: conviction for possession for the purpose of trafficking overturned on appeal and acquittal entered.

R v MJ: conviction for sexual assault and sexual intereference overturned on appeal and new trial ordered. Crown declined to reprosecute.

R v VN: conviction for sexual assault overturned on appeal and acquittal entered.

R v TR: conviction for possession for the purpose of trafficking overturned on appeal with new trial ordered. Crown declined to reprosecute.

R v JS: conviction for sexual assault overturned on appeal with a new trial ordered. Crown declined to reprosecute.

R v HC: conviction for firearms offense overturned on appeal with a new trial ordered.

R v KJ: conviction for failing to comply with probation overturned on appeal with new trial ordered. Crown declined to reprosecute

R v SS: conviction following plea to sexual interference vacated and new trial ordered

R v SE: sentence reduced by 84 months for various drug offences

R v JD: sentence for weapons offences reduced by four years

R v KA: sentence for firearm offences reduced by 17 months

R v GP: sentence for robbery reduced by six months

R v SJ: successfully challenged sentence appeal by Crown to increase sentence

IN THE NEWS

OUR AFFILIATIONS

Criminal Appeals

If you have been convicted of a criminal offence under the Criminal Code of Canada or the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, it may be possible to set aside the conviction and/or reduce the sentence by appealing to a higher court. The criminal appeal process is extremely difficult, complex, and lengthy. The standard that must be met to allow an appeal is very high. The factual and legal issues may be highly complex. The trial record can be voluminous. At our criminal defence firm, we can offer lawyers who specialize in criminal appeals. Our criminal appeal lawyers have extensive experience litigating summary conviction and indictable appeals before the Ontario Court of Justice, the Superior Court of Justice, the Ontario Court of Appeal, and the Supreme Court of Canada. They possess the specialized legal knowledge and advocacy skills required to present your appeal thoroughly, persuasively, and in a timely manner. Our criminal appeal lawyers can also secure your release on bail pending the hearing of your appeal.

Criminal Trials

We have extensive experience defending adult and youth clients charged with a wide variety of offences under the Criminal Code of Canada and the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, such as theft, fraud, property offences, breach of a court order, impaired driving/driving “over 80″/”DUI”, refuse to blow, dangerous driving, criminal harassment, uttering a threat, assault, robbery, sexual assault, child pornography offences, human trafficking, criminal organization offences, drug possession/trafficking/importing/production, firearms possession/use/trafficking/importing, attempted murder, manslaughter, and murder. We can represent you at any stage of your criminal proceeding, including the bail hearing, the Crown and judicial pre-trials, the preliminary hearing, the trial, and sentencing. We are based in Toronto but we regularly appear in courthouses throughout the Greater Toronto Area and Ontario.

Regulatory Offences

Being charged with a regulatory or quasi-criminal offence should not be taken lightly. Penalties for regulatory offences can be as severe as sentences for true crimes, if not more so. For example, a conviction for careless driving under the Highway Traffic Act could result in a fine, jail, and a lengthy licence suspension. Under the Compulsory Automobile Insurance Act, a first conviction for driving without insurance comes with a minimum fine of $5,000. A conviction under the Liquor Licence Act may cost a business owner their liquor licence. Having one of our skillful and knowledgeable criminal defence lawyers at your side to advise you and represent you in court maximizes your likelihood of avoiding the harsh consequences of a conviction for a regulatory offence. If you have already been convicted of a regulatory offence, call us right away to discuss your appeal options with one of our lawyers who specializes in appeals.

Civil Proceedings

At some point in your interaction with the criminal justice system, you may have been the victim of serious misconduct by the police, jail, prison, or other public institution, which may sometimes rise to a violation of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Perhaps the police used unreasonable and excessive force in arresting you, causing you to suffer serious physical injuries. In executing a warrant to search your home, business, or vehicle, the police may have unnecessarily caused serious damage to your property. Maybe you were the victim of foreseeable violence from other inmates while incarcerated in jail, prison, or a courthouse holding cell. At our criminal defence firm, we have lawyers who are experienced in practising both civil law and criminal law. They can advise you on whether you may be able to sue the police or other public institution for damages for the serious losses you suffered.

Request a Consultation

If you require any of these services, please fill out the form to arrange a meeting. Our first consultation is always free of charge and can be arranged to fit your schedule. You may also give us a call at

416.309.1970