Tories call for stricter bail conditions

Current bail laws are flawed according to the Conservative Party which called for tighter regulations for repeat and serious offenders in its report ‘Public Safety First’.

“They allow too many violent and persistent offenders to receive bail who then too often fail to comply with the conditions,” said Nick Herbert, Shadow Secretary of State for Justice, in the report.

It calls for bail laws in England and Wales to be brought “broadly into line with Scotland”, with changes such as making breach of bail a free standing criminal offence. “Public safety needs be taken into account more seriously when determining whether or not to grant bail,” states the report.

“Once someone is convicted of an imprisonable offence, bail should be entirely at the discretion of the judge or magistrates.”

Further recommendations include making breach of bail an entirely separate offence, which would allow police, prosecutors and the courts discretion in whether to pursue a prosecution and what sentence to apply.

“A suspect charged with breach of bail should be returned to court at the earliest opportunity and dealt with immediately,” the report states, as adjournment is understood to reduce the significance of the offence.

The report also quotes the Metropolitan Police’s concerns regarding the reporting requirements of some bail conditions:

“We are currently attempting to discourage reporting to police stations as a conditions [of bail] as this has been shown to be onerous, expensive and of little practical effect in preventing offences, although it remains an attractive option for the defence as an alternative to custody. The imposition of a curfew has been much more effective, however, these require daily monitoring, often requiring several visits per day.”

The report allows that while someone reporting to the station three times a week could have little practical effect, someone charged with football related violence and are banned from matches may benefit from having to attend a police station at the time of a team’s match.

The report suggests that further changes may be proposed to relieve the burden on reporting requirements. It notes a possible role for the private sector in enforcing such requirements and monitoring suspects on bail, taking cues from America where private bail bond companies assist the police in enforcing bail conditions and tracking breaches in a bid to save taxpayers’ money through reduced costs to the criminal justice system.

The report claims that the bail reforms it proposes will mean that more suspects are remanded in custody, as opposed to being released on bail. While the Tories admit this would result in an increase in the prison population, which may initially cause added pressure on prison services, they are working on the basis that the “overwhelming majority” of people remanded in custody will go on to be convicted and receive a custodial sentence. The hope is that this would have long-term benefits on the total prison population by deducting time spent on remand from the sentence the prisoner receives.

In response to the Conservative Party proposals, Bridget Prentice, Labour’s Justice Minister, said: “Labour is already cracking down on those who breach bail. We have introduced stricter bail criteria for defendants charged with the most serious offences who fail to appear in court when required or who committed an offence while on bail.

“The Tories talk tough on bail but they vote soft. For all their warm words now, it was the Conservative Party, including Shadow Home Secretary Dominic Grieve, who voted against making bail conditions stricter for suspects charged with the most serious offences.

“Our approach is working: the Chief Inspector of Court Administration recently recognised a 42 per cent reduction in the number of outstanding failure to appear warrants between March 2005 and June 2007. And the number of people breaching conditions of their bail has been cut by almost a quarter since 2003.”