Bail in Law

925 Words2 Pages

Bail in Law " The Law relating to bail strikes a fair balance between the

unconvicted person's right to remain at liberty while awaiting trial,

and the need to protect the public against the commission of further

offences"

Bail in law, procurement of release from prison of a person awaiting

trial or an appeal, by the deposit of security to insure his

submission at the required time to legal authority. The monetary value

of the security-known also as the bail, or, more accurately, the bail

bond-is set by the court having jurisdiction over the prisoner. The

security may be cash, the papers giving title to property, or the bond

of private persons of means or of a professional bondsman or bonding

company. Failure of the person released on bail to surrender himself

at the appointed time results in forfeiture of the security. Bail is

usually granted in a civil arrest. Courts have greater discretion to

grant or deny bail in the case of persons under criminal arrest, e.g.,

it is usually refused when the accused is charged with homicide. The

Eighth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States provides

that "excessive bail shall not be required," but it does not provide

any absolute right to bail.

Between 1979 and 1989, the prison population of England and Wales grew

rapidly, 78% were attributed to the number of unconvicted persons

awaiting trial. The overcrowdin...

... middle of paper ...

...law but it does

increase the prison population.

There are a number of problems with the bail system such as:

Ø A high number of those refused bail are acquitted

Ø Many are eventually given non-custodial sentences

Ø Too many people are being held in custody

Ø Periods of remand are too high.

But there have been several initiatives proposed and some implemented

to assist the system such as:

Ø Bail Support Schemes: they are set up to offer advice, counselling

and surveillance to those who are granted bail

Ø Bail Hostels: these are run by the probation service and offers

accommodation for defendants awaiting trial. This gives the defendant

freedom, whilst at the same time supervision.

Ø The government are currently preparing a Criminal Justice Bill,

which would Further restrict the use of bail.

Show More
Related

  • The Importance Of Sentencing In Canada

    690 Words  | 2 Pages

    The primary principle of sentencing is stated under section 718.1 of the Criminal Code, “a sentence must be proportionate to the gravity of the offence and the degree of responsibility of the offender.” In other words the sentence must be fair to the offender while holding them responsible under mens rea; having a guilty mind. This idea holds that punishment has to be appropriate based on crime committed.

    Read More

  • Canadian Justice System Case Study

    1259 Words  | 3 Pages

    The law is seen in two ways; as being fair, neutral and having an unbiased arbitrator,

    Read More

  • Bail Reform Acts

    804 Words  | 2 Pages

    Conclusion: Congress hoped to achieve a greater degree of accuracy in assessing flight and danger of arrestees through establishing the Bail Reform Act of 1984, which set objective guidelines for judicial officers in assessing release conditions including taking into account for the first time the probability an offender will re-offend while on pretrial release. It was also hoped that the Act would bring back the community's trust in bond setting practice. Overall, the benefits of the Bail Reform Act of 1984 do exceed any detriments, but some problems do exist. These problems include the uniformity in the application of the Bail Reform Act of 1984, as well as the interpretation of dangerousness to the community. Through future legislative and executive reform, this Act will go through multiple changes until these issues are addressed.

    Read More

  • Criminal and Civil Law in the English Legal System

    1288 Words  | 3 Pages

    One of the main differences between criminal cases and civil cases is that they are held in different courts, this is because there is a significant distinction between a civil wrong and a criminal wrong. Crimes are considered to be a type of wrongdoing, however civil wrongs tend to have only an impact on the parties involved in the case. For example: a breach of contract. Where criminal wrongs tend to have. impact on society itself.

    Read More

  • Procedural Vs. Procedural And Substantive Due Process

    3020 Words  | 7 Pages

    Strong, F. (1986). Substatntive Due process of law: A Dichotomy of sense and Nonsense. Durham: Carolina Academic Press.

    Read More

  • The Sixth Amendment

    1917 Words  | 4 Pages

    "That in all capital or criminal Prosecutions, a man hath a right to demand the cause and nature of his accusation, to be confronted with the accusers and witnesses, to call for Evidence and be admitted counsel in his Favor, and to a fair and speedy Trial by an impartial Jury of his vicinage, without whose unanimous consent he cannot be found guilty, (except in the Government of the land and naval Forces in Time of actual war, Invasion or Rebellion) nor can he be compelled to give Evidence against himself. "

    Read More

  • The Bill of Rights

    1280 Words  | 3 Pages

    Harr, S. J., Hess, K. M., & Orthmann, C. H. (2012). Constitutional Law and the Criminal Justice

    Read More

  • Individual Rights Versus Public Order

    1646 Words  | 4 Pages

    The basis of criminal justice in the United States is one founded on both the rights of the individual and the democratic order of the people. Evinced through the myriad forms whereby liberty and equity marry into the mores of society to form the ethos of a people. However, these two systems of justice are rife with conflicts too. With the challenges of determining prevailing worth in public order and individual rights coming down to the best service of justice for society. Bearing a perpetual eye to their manifestations by the truth of how "the trade-off between freedom and security, so often proposed so seductively, very often leads to the loss of both" (Hitchens, 2003, para. 5).

    Read More

  • Trial Options and the Defendant's Rights

    1001 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Miranda warnings stem from a United States Court’s decision in the case, Miranda v. Arizona. There are two basic conditions that must be met for Miranda warnings to be required: the suspect must be in official police custody and the suspect must be under interrogation. The suspect goes through a booking process after an arrest. The suspect will have a bond hearing shortly after the completion of the booking process or after arraignment. The arraignment is the suspect’s first court appearance to officially hear the charges filed against him or her and to enter a plea. The preliminary hearing or grand jury proceeding determines if there is substantial evidence for the suspect to be tried for the crime charged. In this essay, I will identify and describe at least four rights afforded criminal defendants at the arrest stage and during pretrial. I will analyze the facts presented and other relevant factors in the scenario provided. I will cite legal authority to support my conclusions.

    Read More

  • The Criminal Trial Process

    1108 Words  | 3 Pages

    The criminal trial process is able to reflect the moral and ethical standards of society to a great extent. For the law to be effective, the criminal trial process must reflect what is accepted by society to be a breach of moral and ethical conduct and the extent to which protections are granted to the victims, the offenders and the community. For these reasons, the criminal trial process is effectively able to achieve this in the areas of the adversary system, the system of appeals, legal aid and the jury system.

    Read More

  • Retributive Justice Is A System Of Criminal Justice

    696 Words  | 2 Pages

    When it comes to justice distribution of privileges and power are equally important. The balancing act retributive, holds that an offenders suffering is justified because it maintains justice over time. The very idea of retributive punishment, is that it restores, rectifies and re-tributes the crime. It will over time lose its intelligibility. Aristotle argued that we should fix or equalize past injustices. He called it rectification justice.

    Read More

  • Arguments Against Bail Reform

    762 Words  | 2 Pages

    United States locks up more people, per capita, than any other nation. Bail system has failed to keep people arrested out jail and the increasing rate of people in jail is alarming. Many District Attorney forment defendant to take a plea deal, instead of waiting for a trial (Buettner). Bail reform has help put fewer people in jail, but has lead to many lost jobs for people who works at the jail. Bail system is a profit motive for the bail industry.

    Read More

  • miscarriages of justice

    1951 Words  | 4 Pages

    The statement "It is better that 10 guilty persons escape than that one innocent suffer" summarises and highlights the mistakes and injustices in the criminal justice system. In a just society, the innocent would never be charged, nor convicted, and the guilty would always be caught and punished. Unfortunately, it seems this would be impossible to achieve due to the society in which we live. Therefore, miscarriages of justice occur in the criminal justice system more frequently than is publicised or known to the public at large. They are routine and would have to be considered as a serious problem in our society. The law is what most people respect and abide by, if society cannot trust the law that governs them, then there will be serious consequences including the possible breakdown of that society. In order to have a fair and just society, miscarriages of justice must not only become exceptional but ideally cease to occur altogether.

    Read More

  • Understanding the Doctrine of Proportionality in Law

    2316 Words  | 5 Pages

    The Doctrine of Proportionality is a general concept in law which is used to ensure the presence of fairness and justice in statutory interpretation processes. First enunciated in the High State Administrative Courts in Germany in the late 19th century to review the actions of the police, this doctrine has its application in several branches of law. For instance, in Constitutional law, it keeps a balance between the restriction imposed by a corrective measure and the severity of the nature of the prohibited act. Within Criminal Law,

    Read More

  • Classical School Of Criminology Essay

    1422 Words  | 3 Pages

    Offenders are protected today by both the rule of law, ensuring that all offenders are treated equally, regardless of their age, sex or position in the community, and due process, which ensures that all offenders are given a fair trial with the opportunity to defend themselves and be heard (Williams, 2012). Beccaria’s emphasis on punishment being humane and non-violent has also carried through to modern day corrections. It is still the case today that offenders must only receive punishment that is proportionate to the crime they have committed and the punishment is determined by the law. The power of the judges and the magistrates to make decisions on punishment is guided by the legislation and they do not have the power to change the law (Ferrajoli,

    Read More

More about Bail in Law

Open Document