Rights
Under current law, a defendant has an absolute right to bail if the custody time limits have expired and otherwise ordinarily a right to bail unless there is sufficient reason not to grant it,
Any person accused of committing a crime is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Therefore a person charged with a crime, should not be denied freedom unless there is a good reason.
The main reasons for refusing bail are that the defendant is accused of an imprisonable offence and there are substantial grounds for believing that the defendant would:
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Abscond
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Commit further offences whilst on bail
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Interfere with witnesses
The court should take into account the:
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Nature and seriousness of the offence or default (and the probable method of dealing with the defendant for it)
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Character, antecedents, associations and community ties of the defendant,
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Defendant's bail record, and
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Strength of the evidence
The court may also refuse bail:
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For the defendant's own protection
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Where the defendant is already serving a custodial sentence for another offence
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Where the court is satisfied that it has not been practicable to obtain sufficient information
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Where the defendant has already absconded in the present proceedings
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Where the defendant has been convicted but the court is awaiting a pre-sentence report, other report or inquiry and it would be impracticable to complete the inquiries or make the report without keeping the defendant in custody
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Where the defendant is charged with a non-imprisonable offence, has already been released on bail for the offence with which he is now accused, and has been arrested for absconding or breaching bail
Where the accused has previous convictions for certain homicide or sexual offences, the burden of proof is on the defendant to rebut a presumption against bail.
The Criminal Justice Act 2003 amended the Bail Act 1976 restricting the right to bail for adults who tested positive for a Class A drug and refused to be assessed or refused to participate in recommended treatment
Where a defendant is charged with treason, bail may only be granted by a High Court judge or by the Secretary of State.Section 115 of the Coroners and Justice Act 2009 prohibits magistrates' courts from granting bail in murder cases.
Conditions
Conditions may be applied to the grant of bail, such as living at a particular address or having someone act as surety, if the court considers that this is necessary:
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To prevent the defendant absconding
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To prevent the defendant committing further offences whilst on bail
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To prevent the defendant interfering with witnesses
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For the defendant's own protection (or if he is a child or young person, for his own welfare or in his own interests)
Failure to comply
Failing to attend court on time as required is an offence, for which the maximum sentence in a magistrates' court is three months' imprisonment, or twelve months in the Crown Court.(Sentences are usually much shorter than the maximum, but are often custody.) In addition to imposing punishment for this offence, courts will often revoke bail as they may not trust the defendant again. The amended Consolidated Criminal Practice Direction states (at paragraph 1.13.5) that "the sentence for the breach of bail should usually be custodial and consecutive to any other custodial sentence".
Failing to comply with bail conditions is not an offence, but may lead to the defendant being arrested and brought back to court, where they will be remanded into custody unless the court is satisfied that they will comply with their conditions in future.
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