Bail Act 1994

Bail Act 1994

This Act may be cited as the Bail Act 1994.

This Act commences on a day to be proclaimed.

In this Act, unless the contrary intention appears – appropriate officer means – in the case of the Supreme Court, the Registrar of the Supreme Court; or in the case of the Court of Criminal Appeal, the Registrar of the Court of Criminal Appeal; or in any other case, a clerk of petty sessions; contravene includes fail to comply with;Director of Public Prosecutions means the Director within the meaning of the Director of Public Prosecutions Act 1973; intervention program means a program that provides – supervised treatment; or supervised rehabilitation; or supervised behaviour management; or supervised access to support services; or a combination of any of the matters referred to in paragraphs (a), (b), (c) and (d) – designed to address behavioural problems (including problem gambling), substance abuse, alcohol abuse or mental impairment; judicial officer means a person empowered to exercise jurisdiction in a court, whether or not that person is sitting as a court and includes a single justice; restraint order means a restraint order under Part XA of the Justices Act 1959.

Where a magistrate is authorized by law to exercise a power that may be exercised by 2 or more justices, references in this Act to justices are taken to include references to a magistrate.

Where it is provided by any other Act or law that a person may be admitted to bail, that bail may be granted to a person or that bail may be revoked or varied, however that provision is expressed, this Act applies to that admission to bail or grant, revocation or variation of bail.

In this Part –

control order has the same meaning as in section 100.1 of the Criminal Code 1995 of the Commonwealth;

terrorism-linked person means a person who – has been convicted of a terrorism offence; or is subject to a control order;

terrorism offence means – an offence referred to in paragraph (a), (b) or (c) of the definition of terrorism offence in section 3 of the Crimes Act 1914 of the Commonwealth; and an offence against the former Crimes (Foreign Incursions and Recruitment) Act 1978 of the Commonwealth; and an offence, in relation to terrorism, that – is an offence under an Act of the Commonwealth, this State, another State or a Territory; and is prescribed.

A person, other than a judge or magistrate, must not admit a person to bail if the person is satisfied that the other person is a terrorism-linked person.

A judge or a magistrate must not admit a person to bail if the judge or magistrate is satisfied that the person is a terrorism-linked person.

Subsection (2) does not apply in relation to a person if the judge or magistrate is satisfied that there are exceptional circumstances.

A police officer may arrest a person who is admitted to bail by a person other than a judge or magistrate, if the police officer suspects on reasonable grounds that the person admitted to bail is a terrorism-linked person.

A police officer may arrest a person who is admitted to bail by a judge or magistrate, if – the person was not admitted to bail because a judge or magistrate found, under section 4B(3), that there were exceptional circumstances in relation to the person; and the police officer suspects on reasonable grounds that the person is a terrorism-linked person.

A police officer may arrest a person who is admitted to bail by a judge or magistrate, if – the person was not, before he or she was admitted to bail, a terrorism-linked person; and the person, after his or her release on bail by the judge or magistrate, has become a terrorism-linked person.

On the arrest of a person under this section, the bail of the person is suspended.

Subsection (4) ceases to apply to a person if the person arrested is later released unconditionally.

Section 11 applies to a person arrested under this section as if the person had been arrested under section 10.

Despite subsection (6), section 11(1) does not apply in relation to a justice in respect of a person arrested under this section unless the justice is a magistrate.

This section applies in relation to a person who has made an application for bail, or who is admitted to bail, before, on or after the day on which this section commences.

In any proceedings before a judge, a magistrate or a court, in relation to bail in respect of a person who is, or is alleged by a party to the proceedings to be, a terrorism-linked person, the judge, magistrate or court may make any one or more of the following orders:

that all or part of the proceedings are to be heard in closed court;

that only persons, or members of a class of persons, specified by the judge, magistrate or court may be present during all or part of the proceedings;

that the publication of a report of all or part of the proceedings, or of any information that is disclosed in, or referred to in, the proceedings, is prohibited.

Where a person admits another person to bail under section 34 of the Justices Act 1959 or section 4(3), (5) or (6) of the Criminal Law (Detention and Interrogation) Act 1995, the person who admits him or her to bail must– hand to the person admitted to bail on his or her release from custody a notice specifying the day on which and the time and place at which he or she is required to appear before justices; and endorse on a copy of the notice a statement that the notice was handed to the person admitted to bail on his or her release from custody; and sign the endorsement.

It is a condition of bail under section 34 of the Justices Act 1959 or section 4(3), (5) or (6) of the Criminal Law (Detention and Interrogation) Act 1995 – that the person admitted to bail must appear before justices on the day and at the time and place specified in a notice referred to in subsection (1)(a); and that the person admitted to bail must deposit, if the person admitting him or her to bail under either of those sections considers it desirable and so requires, a sum to be forfeited to the Crown if the person admitted to bail fails to appear before justices as required by paragraph (a).

If a person is admitted to bail, that person must comply with any other conditions (including conditions controlling the conduct of the person) – that the person admitting him or her to bail considers necessary or desirable; and that are specified in the notice referred to in subsection (1)(a).

For the purposes of but without limiting subsection (3), conditions controlling the conduct of a person may include any one or more of the following:a condition requiring the person to report at a specified place at a specified time; a condition limiting the person's movements and social intercourse; a condition of a family violence order, police family violence order or interim family violence order, made under the Family Violence Act 2004; a condition of a recognised DVO, within the meaning of the Domestic Violence Orders (National Recognition) Act 2016; a condition preventing the person from acting in a manner specified in section 106B (1) of the Justices Act 1959.

A person who without reasonable cause contravenes a notice referred to in subsection (1)(a) or a condition of the notice is guilty of an offence and is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding 10 penalty units or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months, or both.

Where a person admitted to bail fails to appear before justices on the day and at the time specified in a notice referred to in subsection (1)(a), the justices may issue a warrant for his or her arrest.

If a police officer has reasonable grounds to believe that a person who was admitted to bail has contravened, or is about to contravene, a notice referred to in subsection (1)(a) or a condition of the notice, the police officer may arrest that person.

Where a person arrested under subsection (5A) is taken before a justice, the justice is to proceed as provided in section 34A of the Justices Act 1959.

On the arrest of a person under subsection (5A) the bail of that person is revoked.

Subsection (5C) does not apply if the person arrested is later released unconditionally.

A sum for the purposes of subsection (2)(b) is not to be more than is, in the opinion of the person admitting a person to bail under section 34 of the Justices Act 1959 or section 4 (3) of the Criminal Law (Detention and Interrogation) Act 1995, sufficient to ensure that that person will appear before justices as specified in the notice.

Money deposited under subsection (2) on the admission of a person to bail is to be paid to the clerk of petty sessions for the court held at the place specified in the notice.

This Part applies to an order for, or with respect to, bail made by a judicial officer.

In this section, authorized person means – a justice; or the Registrar of the Supreme Court; or an officer of the Supreme Court appointed in writing by the Registrar of the Supreme Court; or an associate to a judge of the Court of Criminal Appeal or the Supreme Court; or a clerk to a justice; or a clerk of petty sessions; or an officer of a court of petty sessions appointed in writing by a clerk of petty sessions; or where the person admitted to bail is in prison, a person for the time being in charge of the prison; or a person appointed by a judge of the Court of Criminal Appeal or the Supreme Court in a particular case; or such other person as the Governor may, by order, appoint.

On the making of an order for bail, the person making that order may require the person admitted to bail to sign a document that specifies the terms of that order and, if the person does so require that signature, the person admitted to bail– must go to such place as the person making that order may specify and remain at that place for such time as may be necessary for the person admitted to bail to be provided with a document in the prescribed form specifying the terms of the order for bail; and must not be released from custody until that person signs a document referred to in paragraph (a) in the presence of an authorized person acknowledging the terms of the order and that the person admitted to bail is bound by those terms.

It is a condition of an order for bail, except an order made under section 117A (2) of the Justices Act 1959, that the person admitted to bail must, unless otherwise ordered by a judicial officer, appear and surrender to the order of the court at the time and place specified in the order and to which, during the course of the subsequent proceedings, the hearing may from time to time be adjourned or to which the person may be remanded.

Notwithstanding subsection (3), a person admitted to bail to appear in the Court of Criminal Appeal or the Supreme Court is not required to appear in court at the time and place specified in an order, or to which the hearing may from time to time be adjourned, if he or she is advised in writing by a Crown Law Officer, within the meaning of section 1 of the Criminal Code, that his or her attendance is not required until a later date, but he or she must appear on the last date so advised.

An order for bail may be made subject to such other conditions as the judicial officer thinks desirable in the interests of justice and any such other condition may be expressed to take effect either before or after the person admitted to bail is released from custody.

Without limiting the generality of subsection (4), an order for bail may be made on condition that – a person must deposit a specified amount of money to be forfeited to the Crown if the person admitted to bail fails to appear before a court as required by subsection (3) or fails to comply with a condition of the order for bail; or one or more suitable persons (other than the person admitted to bail) must enter into a recognizance in the prescribed form before an authorized person to forfeit a specified amount of money if the person admitted to bail fails to appear before a court as required by subsection (3) or fails to comply with a condition of the order for bail; or the person admitted to bail be assessed for his or her suitability for participation in an intervention program, provided that the person consents to such an assessment; or subject to subsection (5A), the person admitted to bail undertake an intervention program.

Before imposing a condition under subsection (5)(d), the court must satisfy itself that – the person consents to the imposition of such a condition; and the person is eligible for the services to be included in the program; and the intervention program is available for the person to participate in at a suitable place and time.

A recognizance referred to in subsection (5) may require a suitable person to give security in such terms or in such manner as a judicial officer may order to better secure compliance with the recognizance.