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About 1,700 prisoners were released in September under the first round of the scheme, which aims to free up 5,500 prison spaces in total. ... There are 122 men’s prisons, women’s prisons and ...
The police can only release you on bail if it is ‘necessary and proportionate’. If not you must be released without bail. You can only be kept on bail for 28 days after arrest without being charged, but this can be extended to three months in complex cases. You are released under investigation (often referred to as 'RUI').
- Introduction
- Police Bail
- The Right to Bail
- Opposing Bail: Information For Prosecutors
- Conditions of Bail
- Reconsideration of Bail
- Breach of Conditions of Bail
- Remands Into Custody
- Youth Bail
- Youth Remands
The decisions on bail, in criminal proceedings, represent an important stage in the prosecution process. The results of these decisions can have far reaching consequences for victims of crime and the public in general. From the viewpoint of the defendant, bail decisions made by a Court can result in the deprivation or restriction of liberty for a s...
Pre-Charge
Pre-charge police bail can be imposed in a number of different circumstances including: 1. Where there is as yet insufficient evidence to charge a suspect and they are released pending further investigation (sections 34(2), 34(5) and 37(2) of The Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (PACE)Where the police consider that there is sufficient evidence to charge, but the matter must be referred to the CPS for a charging decision (s.37(7)(a) PACE). 2. Where it is no longer necessary to detain a su...
Breach of pre-charge bail conditions
The police have a power of arrest where an officer has reasonable grounds for believing that conditions imposed on pre-charge bail have been breached (section 46A(1A) PACE). A breach of pre-charge bail conditions is not of itself a criminal offence (although a breach may amount to a separate offence such as assault or witness intimidation in which case the police may choose to arrest for breach and/or any new offence). There is no provision for alleged breaches of pre-charge bail to be put be...
Post Charge
Where there is sufficient evidence and the suspect is charged with an offence (section 37(7)(d) PACE), the police can keep them in detention or release them on bail to appear at court at a future date and may impose conditions on that bail (section 47(1A) PACE). It should be noted that (either pre or post charge) the police cannot impose conditions on a suspect: 1. to reside at a bail hostel; 2. to attend an interview with a legal adviser; 3. to make them or herself available for enquiries an...
Under section 4 Bail Act 1976, on each occasion that a person is brought before a court accused of an offence, or remanded after conviction for enquiries or a report, he must be granted bail without condition, if none of the exceptions to bail apply. Prosecutors must keep the issue of bail under review throughout the life of the case. Conditions of...
Information that prosecutors may need from the police in order to decide whether the exceptions to bail are made out may include: 1. Any history of offending, absconding or witness interference whilst on bail in the current or in previous proceedings; 2. Any express or implied intention to continue to offend, abscond or interfere with the course of...
General
Bail conditions should only be imposed in order to address any of the risks that would be inherent in granting unconditional bail. In proposing (or considering) conditions of bail, prosecutors must ensure that that they are necessary, reasonable, proportionate and capable of being enforced. Consideration should also be given to the extent to which they meet the objections to bail. Conditions that are unsuitable may give rise to a continuing risk of further offending, of absconding, or of harm...
Types of Condition
1. Reporting to a police station: This must be necessary to avert the risk it is designed to meet. For example, care should be taken to ensure that the interval between reporting times is not so long as to be insufficient to prevent a defendant from absconding. 2. Doorstep condition: It was held in R (CPS) v Chorley Justices [2002] EWHC 2162 (Admin)that a doorstep condition was not contrary to the ECHR. Where it is proportionate and necessary to enforce a curfew or a residence condition impos...
Credit for period of remand on bail with an electronic tag
Section 240A Criminal Justice Act 2003provides that a court must direct that the period for which a defendant was subject to a curfew and an electronic monitoring condition, to count as time served by the offender as part of the sentence. The credit period is the number of days represented by half of the sum of the number of days on which the offender is subject to an electronically monitored curfew of at least nine hours per day. The day on which the conditions are imposed is counted but the...
The prosecutor may apply under section 5B Bail Act 1976to have bail reconsidered by the magistrates' court. This only applies to bail granted by the magistrates' court or the police, and only in relation to offences triable on indictment or either way. The prosecutor may apply to vary the conditions of bail, impose conditions on bail which had been...
Breach of conditions of bail is not a Bail Act offence, nor is it a contempt of court unless there is some additional feature (R v Ashley[2004] 1 Cr. App. R. 23). Section 7(3) Bail Act 1976confers power upon a police officer to arrest a person if he has reasonable grounds for believing that that person is likely to break any of the conditions of hi...
Length of Remand into Custody
It should be remembered that these provisions should always be viewed as being subject to Custody Time Limits. In the magistrates' court, a defendant can only remand a person in custody for a maximum of eight days, except where it has previously remanded them in custody and it has a set a date for the next stage of those proceedings. In those circumstances, having heard representations from the defendant's representatives, he can be remanded in custody for a period ending in that date or for...
Appearance by Live Link
Preliminary hearings, including those considering bail, may be held via live video link and where live link is used, the defendant is deemed to be present - section 52A(2) Criminal Justice Act 2003. There is no requirement that the defendant be in custody in relation to the offences to which the preliminary hearing relates. As such, prosecutors should consider the savings in time and cost that might result from using the live link where a prisoner serving a sentence in relation to another off...
Warrants of further detention - pre charge: s. 43 PACE
An arrested person must be charged or released within 24 hours of his arrest or arrival at the police station (section 41 PACE). This can be extended to 36 hours on authorisation of a police superintendent (section 42 PACE). Thereafter, a police officer may apply on oath (supported by an information) to the magistrates' court for that period of detention to be extended where the court is satisfied (section 43(4) PACE)that: 1. His detention without charge is necessary to secure or preserve evi...
The Bail Act 1976 applies to youth offenders and there is a presumption that the defendant has a right to bail, save for exceptions set out in Schedule 1. Section 91 LASPO 2012 applies where a court has decided it cannot release the child concerned on bail under the Bail Act 1976in criminal or extradition proceedings. In dealing with a person aged ...
The statutory tests within the LASPO 2012 (as amended)make clear that placing a child in custody must always be a last resort, but that option remains open to the courts where necessary. The question of a remand will only arise where an adjournment is sought and therefore the first point to consider is whether or not the adjournment is necessary. P...
Jul 12, 2024 · The department will also conduct a review into how the prison crisis got so bad. The latest statistics from the Ministry of Justice show the adult male prison population on Monday stood at 83,755 ...
Nov 15, 2023 · Being released without charge means that the police have decided not to bring charges against you. This could be because there is insufficient evidence, or it could be for other reasons such as a lack of public interest in prosecuting the case. If you are released without charge, then your bail will come to an end and all conditions associated ...
Pre-charge bail (sometimes called ‘police bail’), where a suspect is released without charge but must return to a police station on a given date, has been variously described as a legal limbo, an assault on liberty, and punishment without trial. It is similar to ‘street bail’, except that the latter occurs outside of a police station.
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Jul 12, 2024 · Prisoners to be released after serving 40% of sentence to alleviate overcrowding. Prisons have been at more than 99% capacity for most of the time since January 2023, with concerns the system is ...
