Setting aside of conviction
117(1)When a judge, acting under subsection 16(1), 16.9(7), paragraph 28(1)(
a) or (
b) or subsection 29(1) or (1.1), convicts a defendant in the defendant’s absence, the judge may
(a)
on application by the defendant not later than forty-five days after the conviction, and
(b)
if satisfied that the defendant’s failure to appear occurred through no fault of the defendant,
set aside the conviction, accept a plea from the defendant and fix a time and place for trial.
117(1.1)If a judge convicts a defendant, in the defendant’s absence, of an offence charged in a ticket, the judge may set aside the conviction if the notice of prosecution was filed with the judge after payment of the fixed penalty set out in the ticket.
117(1.2)For greater certainty, subsection (1.1) does not apply to a conviction under subsection 14(8) resulting from the payment of a fixed penalty.
117(2)When a conviction is set aside under subsection (1) or (1.1) or subsection 117.1(1) or (5), the judge shall, on request, give the defendant a certificate in prescribed form stating that fact, and the judge shall revoke any warrant or order that has been issued under this Act relating to that conviction.
117(3)A conviction shall not be set aside under subsection (1) unless the prosecutor has been given an opportunity to oppose the application.
1990, c.18, s.65; 2009, c.29, s.7; 2011, c.16, s.14; 2017, c.58, s.19