Court bail

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Decisions made by the court can result in the deprivation or restriction of a defendant's liberty for substantial periods of time. It is paramount, therefore, that decisions in relation to bail are made in accordance with the law. If there has been an unjustified deprivation of liberty this may give rise to grounds of appeal.

The term ‘bail’ in criminal proceedings has a specific definition pursuant to section 1 of the Bail Act 1976 (BA 1976). It may be granted during proceedings to a person accused or convicted of an offence.

The primary source of legislation governing court bail decisions is BA 1976 and the procedure for applying for bail or applying to vary bail conditions is set out in Part 14 of the Criminal Procedure Rules 2020 (CrimPR 2020), SI 2020/759.

Right to court bail and grounds for refusing bail

BA 1976, s 4 gives a general right to bail to:

  1. •

    any person appearing before a magistrates’ court, youth court or Crown Court

  2. •

    any person who has been convicted of an offence but only if the court is adjourning the case for

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