Summary
Summary Public Services - Understanding the legal system - P4
- Institution
- PEARSON (PEARSON)
Directly from my public services course which I achieved maximum marks in, this covers P4 of the understanding the legal system module
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Outline the rights of the defendant to legal representation and bailBail is given to those who have been a suspect and have to return at later date whilst the police make
inquires or someone who has been charged but deemed to be by the police suitable for bail and the
freedom with it. Bail is defined as being given liberty until the next stage in the case. Alternatively
you may not receive bail and be deemed too dangerous to yourself or others to be let out, so you will
be remanded in custody. The definition of being remanded in custody is, being kept in custody until
your trail.
Bail is controlled by 3 acts, the bail act 1976, section 38 of the police and criminal evidence act 1984
(PACE) and the criminal justice and public order act 1994 which amends the police and criminal
evidence act. Section 38 of the PACE act determines the decision to give or to not give bail. Custody
officer will refuse bail if the suspects name and address cannot be ascertained or if their doubts
about the authenticity of their name or address. The criminal justice and public order act gave police
the power to impose conditions on granting a bail. The would include removing passports from
suspects, reporting regularly to the police station, or getting a person to stand surety for them. These
conditions are imposed to make sure the suspect surrenders to the bail, doesn’t commit further
offences, interfering with witnesses or interfering with justice in some other way. Whilst relatively
rare police can refuse bail if they feel it’s justified. The decision to refuse bail is covered by the bail
act. The bail act states bail should always be granted unless if released on bail the defendant would:
Fail to surrender to custody
Commit an offence whilst on bail
Interfere with witnesses or otherwise obstruct the course of justice
Needs to be kept in custody for their own protection
When deciding whether or not to grant bail to a suspect various factors will be considered, these
include:
The nature and seriousness of the offence
The character, past record, associations and community ties of the defendant
The defendants previous record when granted bail (if applicable)
The strength of the evidence against the defendant
A court can also exercise control over the right to bail. They will restrict the use of bail if there is
repeated serious offences, where current offences were committed whilst under a bail or if the
defendant is an adult drug user. This is more likely to occur in a crown court than a magistrate’s court
and the offences that prevent a court allowing bail likely to be indictable offences. Section 19 of the
criminal justice act 2003 place restrictions on adult offenders who have tested positive for class A
drugs. These restrictions come in when the offender is charged with possession of or possession
with intent to supply a class A drug, That the court believes there is substantial evidence to believe
that a class A drug contributed to the crime committed or if the defendant refused to be assessed on
their dependency on class A drugs. Also the bail amendment act 1993 gives the prosecution the right
to appeal to a judge in crown court against the granting of bail. This is only applies to offences which
is punishable with imprisonment. This is usually done in the interests of the prosecution in
protection of their client/clients.
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