1Section 10(2) of the Bail Act 1985 (SA) confers an unfettered discretion on bail pending appeal, with no presumption for or against bail, but the inherent circumstances of a post-conviction application — including the public interest in finality of sentences, the risk of proliferating unmeritorious appeals, and the invidious position of returning a person to custody after a period of liberty — mean that a grant of bail pending appeal will in practice be exceptional.
2The availability of home detention bail with electronic monitoring does not materially diminish the policy concerns identified in R v Giordano and Ex Parte Maher; in particular, it does little to avoid the perception that a lower court's sentence is merely contingent until confirmed on appeal, and dismissal of the appeal would still require the applicant's return to custody.
3The fact that the applicant was sentenced in a court of summary jurisdiction, and that home detention bail was sought for the first time, were treated as factors relevant to pre-trial bail rather than post-conviction bail pending appeal.
