Describe how both the Police and the Courts Decide Matters Relating to the Granting of Bail to a Person awaiting Trial

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Mohammed Bhana TG7                AS Level Law

                Criminal Law

Describe how both the Police and the Courts Decide Matters Relating to the Granting of Bail to a Person awaiting Trial

Bail is when the police or the courts detain a person suspected of committing a crime to make further enquiries. The granting of bail is one of the important pre-trial matters. When a person is given bail it means that he is allowed to be at liberty until the next stage in the case. The procedures for whether bail should be granted or not are covered in The Bail Act 1976, the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act (CJPOA) 1994 and Section 38 of the Pace Act 1984. Both the police or the courts can grant or refuse bail, and I am going to discuss how they do it.

The police may release a suspect on bail, on condition that the suspect agrees to return to the station at a given specific date and time. The police can also release a defendant who has been charged with an offence, but in this case the suspect is released on condition that he appears at the Magistrates on a set date. The responsibility for deciding whether or not bail should be granted is in the hands of the custody officer. This is stated in Section 38 of the Pace Act 1984. However the custody officer has a right to refuse bail if the suspects name or address cannot be discovered, or if he has any suspicion over the details given that they could be wrong. However if none of these apply then bail should be granted. And if a person given bail fails to appear at the police station or the magistrates on the given date then the police have the right to arrest them, this is stated in section 9.2.2 of the Bail Act 1976.

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Under the CJPOA 1994 the police have the power to impose conditions on the granting of bail. This is called “conditional bail.” Common conditions include surrendering of the passport, reporting at regular intervals at the police station or to get another person to stand surety for him. A surety is a person who promises to pay a certain amount of money if the suspect fails to turn up on his set date.

If the police decide to refuse bail to a suspect, then they must ensure the suspect is taken before a magistrate’s court as soon as possible. ...

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