Police Bail

Example:

Peter is a 17-year old college student. He was caught shoplifting a baseball cap from The Warehouse. This is the first time he’s been in trouble with the Police. He lives at home with his parents and his parents say that they will make sure he appears in court.

Outcome: Peter will get Police bail. There will be a condition that he lives with his parents and probably that he does not go near The Warehouse.

Example:

John broke into a house and stole a TV and DVD player. He has been convicted of burglary several times in the past. One year ago he breached the curfew imposed on him by the court as a condition of bail. He has no fixed address.

Outcome: John will probably be held in Police custody until he appears in court for the first time where the issue of bail will be decided by the Judge or JP. 

When you’ve been arrested and charged, the Police must either grant you bail or bring you before the court as soon as possible to determine if you should get bail.



If it’s not possible for the Police to bring you before a court immediately (usually because you were arrested on the weekend), the Police may decide to release you on bail until that first court appearance.

If the Police don’t grant you bail, you’ll be held in custody until you’re taken to court, at which point you can apply to the court for bail.

Police have the power to require you to provide a "surety" (a person who enters into a binding promise) or to deposit a sum of money as a bail bond, but this usually isn’t required.

Instead they will require a fixed address and may impose certain conditions to your bail. The most common conditions are that you:

• Reside at a specified address; and
• not contact the victim or complainant; and/or
• not associate with co-offenders; and/or
• have a curfew (not being allowed away from your residential address between certain hours such as 7pm to 7am).

The Police have a discretion to grant bail in most situations and bail is normally granted unless there is good reason to believe that you will not turn up to court, or that you are likely to be a danger to the community (for example, through re-offending, or tampering with evidence or witnesses). Bail is generally granted to first offenders unless the crime is serious.

Bail can’t be granted by the Police when more serious offences such as serious assault or rape are involved. Police will not grant bail if they have reason to believe that the offender will not turn up in court or has no fixed address.