COURT OF APPEAL FOR ONTARIO
DATE: 20260224
DOCKET: COA-25-CR-0938
Trotter, Monahan and Dawe JJ.A.
BETWEEN
His Majesty the King
Respondent
and
Ala Zadi
Appellant
Ala Zadi, acting in person
David Friesen, for the respondent
Heard and rendered orally: February 23, 2026
On appeal from the bail review decision of Justice David E. Harris of the Superior Court of Justice, on July 16, 2025.
REASONS FOR DECISION
[ 1 ] Ala Zadi seeks to appeal a decision of a judge of the Superior Court of Justice denying his application for a bail review under s. 520 of the Criminal Code , R.S.C. 1985, c. C-46 . In response, the Crown moves to quash the appeal for want of jurisdiction.
[ 2 ] The Criminal Code does not provide any right of appeal to this court from bail review decisions under ss. 520 or 521 : see R. v. Antic , 2017 SCC 27 , [2017] 1 S.C.R. 509, at para. 18 . Mr. Zadi acknowledges this, and seeks to invoke s. 6(1) (b) of the Courts of Justice Act , R.S.O. 1990, c. C.43. However, his reliance on provincial legislation to give him a right of appeal in a criminal case is misplaced, since “appeal rights in criminal matters must be created by federal criminal legislation”: R. v. Thangarajah , 2025 ONCA 897 , at para. 8 , leave to appeal to S.C.C. requested, 42166; see also R. v. J.M. , 2021 ONCA 735 , 158 O.R. (3d) 81, at paras. 25-26 . It makes no difference that Mr. Zadi claims that his appeal raises Charter issues, since “a right of appeal must be derived from a statutory source”: R. v. Scherba (2001), 2001 4208 (ON CA) , 54 O.R. (3d) 555 (C.A.), at para 10 . Even if Mr. Zadi is correct that Harris J.’s decision amounted to a final order disposing of his Charter claims, there is no route under federal legislation by which this order can be appealed to this court.
[ 3 ] We accordingly quash Mr. Zadi’s appeal for want of jurisdiction. This makes it unnecessary for us to address his application to adduce fresh evidence on his appeal.
“Gary Trotter J.A.”
“P.J. Monahan J.A.”
“J. Dawe J.A.”