Understand how the criminal trial process works.
Categories of criminal offence: summary offences; triable either way offences; indictable offences
Bail: police powers to grant bail; the Bail Act 1976 and Criminal Justice Act 2003; right of defendant to bail; conditional and unconditional bail; re...
P4 outline the rights of the defendant to legal representation and bail
Bail:
Police powers to grant bail;
Bail means that after a charge you have just received that you are able to
leave police custody until the next stage of the process of your case. Bail can
be given before or after the person has been charged. If the police
investigation is active they may not have enough evidence to charge
someone in which case they will bail a suspect after 24 hours of them being
in custody and then will then be given a later time and date to return to the
police station.
The Bail Act 1976 and Criminal Justice Act 2003;
The bail act gives the general right to bail and it doesn’t depend on the
severity of the crime. If the defendant released on bail doesn’t surrender to
custody then they are automatically guilty of an offence. However the
magistrates can refuse bail on the grounds to believe that the defendant will
not surrender to bail, commit an offence and interfere with witnesses when
the court is decided whether to give bail or not they will considers different
factors and the seriousness of the offence.
Criminal justice Act 2003
This amends the law in relation to police powers, bail, disclosure, criminal
offences. It was introduced to modernize many areas of the criminal justice
system. It will permit offences to be tried by a judge that’s sitting alone
without the presence of a jury. It also expands the circumstances of double
jeopardy where someone can’t be tried for the same offence when new
evidence has been brought to life.
Right of defendant to bail; conditional and unconditional bail;
After a suspect had been charged the police must release them on bail if
there’s no doubt about their real address and if the police are confident the
suspect won’t interfere with evidence or witnesses. Unconditional bail is bail
that is given without any conditions attached to it. Conditional bail may
include, surrender of passport, curfews and reporting to police stations at
regular intervals.
Restrictions on bail;
You may be released on bail at the police station after you’ve been charged
and you’ll be able to go home until your court hearing. You may have to
agree to certain conditions like living at the address agreed, not being in
contact with certain people, giving your passport into the police so you are
unable to leave the country, reporting to a station at times agreed. If these
restrictions aren’t being met then you can be taken into prison and to wait for
your court hearing that has already been set. Sometimes you may be
declined bailed if you’ve been charged with a serious offence like armed
robbery, if you’ve had a previous serious conviction, if you’ve previously been
given bail and not stuck to these conditions, if the police you think you won’t
be present for your hearing or if the police think you may commit a crime
whilst on bail.
Breaches of bail;
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