Bail Act 2013

This Act is the Bail Act 2013.

This Act commences on a day or days to be appointed by proclamation.

The purpose of this Act is to provide a legislative framework for a decision as to whether a person who is accused of an offence or is otherwise required to appear before a court should be detained or released, with or without conditions.

(Repealed)

In this Act—

accommodation requirement—see section 28.

accompaniment requirement—see section 28A.

accused person or person accused of an offence includes the following—

a person who has been charged with or convicted of an offence,

a person whose conviction for an offence is stayed,

a person in respect of whom proceedings on an appeal against conviction or sentence for the offence are pending,

a person in respect of whom a new trial has been ordered to be held for an offence.

apprehended violence order has the same meaning as it has in the Crimes (Domestic and Personal Violence) Act 2007.

authorised justice means—

a registrar of the Local Court, or

a Children’s Registrar, or other Registrar of the Children’s Court, under the Children’s Court Act 1987, or

an officer of the Department of Attorney General and Justice who is declared, by order of the Minister, whether by reference to his or her name or office, to be an authorised justice for the purposes of this Act, or

a person, or member of a class of persons, declared by the regulations to be an authorised justice for the purposes of this Act.

bail—see section 7.

bail acknowledgment means the bail acknowledgment for a decision to grant bail given to the accused person under section 33.

bail application means—

a release application, or

a detention application, or

a variation application.

bail authority means a police officer or a court.

bail concern—see section 17.

bail condition means a condition of bail.

bail decision—see section 8.

bail guarantor means any person who enters into a bail security agreement, other than the accused person granted bail.

bail money means money agreed to be forfeited under a bail security agreement.

bail security means security for the payment of bail money deposited with a bail authority.

bail security agreement means an agreement entered into, or required to be entered into, under a security requirement of a bail condition (whether by the accused person or by any other person).

character acknowledgment—see section 27.

child means a person under the age of 18 years.

Commonwealth Criminal Code means the Criminal Code set out in the Schedule to the Criminal Code Act 1995 of the Commonwealth.

community service order means a community service order under the Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act 1999 or a children’s community service order under the Children (Community Service Orders) Act 1987.

conclusion of proceedings—see section 6.

conduct requirement—see section 25.

conviction includes a finding of guilt.

correctional centre means a correctional centre within the meaning of the Crimes (Administration of Sentences) Act 1999 and includes a detention centre within the meaning of that Act (subject to the Children (Detention Centres) Act 1987).

court means—

the Court of Criminal Appeal, the Supreme Court, the Land and Environment Court, the Industrial Court, the District Court or the Local Court, or

any other court which, or person who, exercises criminal jurisdiction.

detention application—see section 50.

domestic violence offence has the same meaning as in the Crimes (Domestic and Personal Violence) Act 2007.

enforcement condition—see section 30.

fail to appear offence means an offence against section 79.

fine-only offence means an offence not punishable by a sentence of imprisonment.

first appearance means a first appearance of an accused person before a court or authorised justice in proceedings for an offence.

function includes a power, authority or duty and exercise a function includes perform a duty.

intimate partner, of a person (the first person), means a person who—

is or has been married to the first person, or

is or has been a de facto partner of the first person, or

Note—

“De facto partner” is defined in the Interpretation Act 1987, section 21C.

has or has had an intimate personal relationship with the first person, whether or not the intimate relationship involves or has involved a relationship of a sexual nature.

intoxicated person means a person who appears to be seriously affected by alcohol or another drug or a combination of drugs.

Local Court includes the Children’s Court exercising jurisdiction under the Children (Criminal Proceedings) Act 1987.

non-association and place restriction order means a non-association order or a place restriction order under section 17A (2) of the Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act 1999 or section 33D (2) of the Children (Criminal Proceedings) Act 1987.

offence includes an alleged offence.

personal violence offence means a personal violence offence of a kind referred to in section 4 (a) of the Crimes (Domestic and Personal Violence) Act 2007.

pre-release requirement—see section 29.

proceedings for an offence—see section 5.

proceedings on an appeal against conviction or sentence—see section 5 (2).

release application—see section 49.

security requirement—see section 26.

serious domestic violence offence means—

an offence under the Crimes Act 1900, Part 3 with a maximum penalty of 14 years imprisonment or more if the offence is committed by a person against an intimate partner, or

an offence under a law of the Commonwealth, another State or Territory or another jurisdiction that is similar to an offence under that part.

show cause offence—see section 16B.

substantive proceedings for an offence—see section 5 (3).

supervision order means an extended supervision order or an interim supervision order under the Crimes (High Risk Offenders) Act 2006 or the Terrorism (High Risk Offenders) Act 2017.

terrorist act has the same meaning as it has in Part 5.3 of the Commonwealth Criminal Code.

unacceptable risk—see section 19.

variation application—see section 51.

victim of an offence includes an alleged victim of an offence.

Note.

The Interpretation Act 1987 contains definitions and other provisions that affect the interpretation and application of this Act.

A reference in this Act to a person charged with an offence includes a reference to a person who has been issued with a court attendance notice for the offence under the Criminal Procedure Act 1986.

In this Act, a power to vary a bail decision includes—

a power to revoke the bail decision and substitute a new bail decision, and

a power to vary bail conditions.

In this Act, a power to vary bail conditions includes—

a power to revoke a bail condition, and

a power to revoke a bail condition and substitute a new bail condition, and

a power to impose a new bail condition.

Notes in this Act do not form part of this Act.

In this Act, proceedings for an offence means criminal proceedings against a person for an offence (whether summary or indictable), and includes the following—

committal proceedings,

proceedings relating to bail,

proceedings relating to sentence,

proceedings on an appeal against conviction or sentence,

any other proceedings of a kind prescribed by the regulations.

Proceedings on an appeal against conviction or sentence include—

proceedings on an application for annulment of a conviction or sentence made under section 4 or 5 of the Crimes (Appeal and Review) Act 2001, and

proceedings on an appeal against an order imposed by the Land and Environment Court on conviction for an offence.

Proceedings for an offence are substantive unless the proceedings are—

proceedings relating to bail, or

proceedings on an appeal against any interlocutory judgment or order given in proceedings, or

proceedings declared to be non-substantive by the regulations.

Proceedings for an offence conclude when a court finally disposes of the proceedings concerned.

If a court convicts an accused person of an offence, and a sentence is to be imposed, proceedings for the offence do not conclude until the sentence has been imposed.

The committal of a person for trial or sentence is not a conclusion of proceedings for an offence.

If a person’s conviction or sentence for an offence is stayed on or before the conclusion of proceedings for an offence, the proceedings do not conclude while the stay is in force.

The regulations may make further provision for the time at which proceedings for an offence are to be regarded as concluded and this section has effect subject to the regulations.

Bail is authority to be at liberty for an offence.

Note.

An offence includes an alleged offence.

Bail can be granted under this Act to any person accused of an offence.

A person who, because of bail, is entitled to be at liberty for an offence is entitled (if in custody) to be released from custody.

Note.

Limitations to the entitlement to be at liberty are specified in section 14.

The following decisions (each of which is a bail decision) can be made under this Act in respect of a person accused of an offence—

a decision to release the person without bail for the offence,

a decision to dispense with bail for the offence,

a decision to grant bail for the offence (with or without the imposition of bail conditions),

a decision to refuse bail for the offence.

Note.

Part 3 sets out how a bail decision is to be made by a bail authority.

A bail decision cannot be made if substantive proceedings for the offence have concluded and no further substantive proceedings for the offence are pending before a court.

A bail decision can also be made in respect of a person who is not accused of an offence in the circumstances specified in Schedule 1.

Note.

Schedule 1 provides for the grant of bail where a person is required to appear in proceedings otherwise than because he or she is accused of an offence. In such cases, this Act applies as if the person were accused of an offence.

A decision to release a person without bail can be made only by a police officer with power to make that bail decision under this Act.

A decision to dispense with bail can be made only by a court with power to make that bail decision under this Act.

If bail for an offence is dispensed with, the person accused of the offence is entitled to be at liberty for the offence, in the same way as if bail had been granted.

A court is taken to have dispensed with bail for an offence if—

a person accused of the offence appears before the court in proceedings for the offence, and

the person has not previously been granted or refused bail for the offence, and

the court does not grant or refuse bail for the offence.

A decision to grant or refuse bail can be made only by a police officer or court with power to make that bail decision under this Act.

To avoid doubt, subsection (1) does not prevent an authorised justice exercising a function under section 54.

Bail ceases to have effect if—

it is revoked, or

substantive proceedings for the offence conclude and, at the conclusion of the proceedings, no further substantive proceedings for the offence are pending before a court.

Bail is not revived if, after the conclusion of substantive proceedings for an offence, further substantive proceedings for the offence are commenced. However, a new bail decision for the offence can be made under this Act.

Note.

Proceedings for an offence generally conclude if a person is convicted of and sentenced for the offence. If an appeal against the conviction or sentence is lodged after that conclusion, bail is not revived, but a new bail decision can be made.

If bail is granted by a bail authority for a specified period, bail ceases to have effect at the end of that period, unless sooner revoked.

A court before which an accused person is required to appear under a bail acknowledgment may continue bail if—

bail would otherwise cease to have effect, and

substantive proceedings for the offence have not concluded.