Law on Bail: Balancing the Rights of Suspects
How does the law on bail balance the rights of the suspects against the need to protect society? (14marks)
Bail is the temporary release of a defendant after a police interview where an important decision takes place on whether the defendant should stay in custody or whether bail should be granted. This essay will discuss how the law on bail balances the rights of the suspects against the need to protect society.
The Bail Act 1976 clearly states bail may not be guaranteed if there are substantial grounds for believing there are substantial grounds for believing that that the defendant would fail to surrender to custody. In these circumstances the suspect may in fact be innocent and in worse circumstances they may be accused of a crime they haven’t committed which would be unfair. The law must consider the suspect’s human rights and there is no guarantee that the suspect won’t turn up.
However there is no evidence that the suspect is innocent so releasing them back into the society may risk innocent lives of the public in these circumstances the victim would be in danger where the suspect may attack again or even commit another offence. The suspect may disappear as soon as they are granted bail and may disappear off to another country for instance where they may have family or friends abroad. Also if they do disappear searching for the suspect will consume valuable police time and it would cost a large amount of money to find them.
Another condition where bail would be refused is if there is a chance that the defendant would interfere with witnesses or otherwise obstruct the course of justice. This would protect society as if the defendant was given bail they may convince the witnesses to change or even withdraw their statement as a result justice would not be served and the witness may be in danger because they could also cause psychological or even physical harm. Consequently by making the witnesses change or withdraw their statement this would complicate
Bail is the temporary release of a defendant after a police interview where an important decision takes place on whether the defendant should stay in custody or whether bail should be granted. This essay will discuss how the law on bail balances the rights of the suspects against the need to protect society.
The Bail Act 1976 clearly states bail may not be guaranteed if there are substantial grounds for believing there are substantial grounds for believing that that the defendant would fail to surrender to custody. In these circumstances the suspect may in fact be innocent and in worse circumstances they may be accused of a crime they haven’t committed which would be unfair. The law must consider the suspect’s human rights and there is no guarantee that the suspect won’t turn up.
However there is no evidence that the suspect is innocent so releasing them back into the society may risk innocent lives of the public in these circumstances the victim would be in danger where the suspect may attack again or even commit another offence. The suspect may disappear as soon as they are granted bail and may disappear off to another country for instance where they may have family or friends abroad. Also if they do disappear searching for the suspect will consume valuable police time and it would cost a large amount of money to find them.
Another condition where bail would be refused is if there is a chance that the defendant would interfere with witnesses or otherwise obstruct the course of justice. This would protect society as if the defendant was given bail they may convince the witnesses to change or even withdraw their statement as a result justice would not be served and the witness may be in danger because they could also cause psychological or even physical harm. Consequently by making the witnesses change or withdraw their statement this would complicate