Standard 5
Challenge bail for dangerous people
When people are charged with a crime a court decides if they have to stay in prison before the trial. Many people are let out of prison to wait for their trial. This is called bail.
Sometimes we think people should stay in prison until their trial. In these cases we will ask the court to order them to stay in prison.
5.1. Most people charged with a crime do not go to prison before their trial. This is called being given bail.
We can ask the court to keep a person charged with a crime in prison before their trial.
We can do this when we believe the person charged with the crime would:
- Not go to the trial.
- Do more crimes before the trial.
- Try to make witnesses change their evidence.
- Hurt themselves.
- Hurt other people.
5.2. When a person is charged with a crime (they are called a defendant), they have to go to court several times before their trial.
Every time they go the Prosecutor is asked if they oppose bail. The Prosecutor can say if they think the defendant should be kept in prison before the trial.
If the defendant is let out of prison before the trial the Prosecutor can ask for rules to be set (conditional bail).
If the defendant breaks the rules they will be taken back to court.
The court will decide if they should be kept in prison to wait for their trial.
5.3. When we decide if someone should stay in prison before their trial we think about these questions:
What is the evidence the person did the crime? Is it very strong?
Is the crime very bad?
Has the person done other crimes? Have they been punished by the court before? How did they act when they had bail before?
Are they waiting for a trial for another crime as well as this one?
Has the person carried on doing other crimes while waiting for trial for this one?
Is there any other information, like the results of drug tests?
5.4. Every time the case is heard in court the Prosecutor tells the court why the defendant should stay in prison, or why they have to keep to agreed rules.
The Prosecutor has to give information to support their view. This can be things like a victim's personal statement.
Read about Victim's Personal Statement on our website.
If the victim has written a victim personal statement which says they are scared of being hurt by the defendant, the Prosecutor can use it as information to support their view that the defendant should stay in prison before the trial.
5.5. We can oppose bail for some crimes only.
We look at the crime a person is charged with and decide if we can oppose bail.
We then decide if we are going to oppose bail and why.
We decide this before the magistrates' court hearing.
If a magistrate grants bail when we have asked them not to, we act immediately.
The Prosecutor tells the court (gives notice) if we are going to appeal to a judge in the Crown Court.
This means that the defendant can be kept in prison until a judge decides who is right.
5.6. If a defendant has to stay in prison before their trial they can ask a Judge to decide if it is fair.
They can also ask a Judge to decide if the rules they have to keep (conditional bail) are fair.
We go to the court hearing when a Judge thinks about these things.
We tell the Judge why we opposed bail or asked for rules to be set about bail.
If the Judge thinks we are wrong we sometimes suggest other rules the defendant must keep to.
5.7. If a defendant breaks the rules that have been set about bail (conditions of bail) we talk to the magistrate about what should happen next.
If the defendant has broken the rules they can be sent to prison to wait for their trial, or new rules can be set.
This can also happen if a police officer thinks the defendant will break their bail rules (conditions of bail).
5.8. Prosecutors write down all the reasons for opposing bail or setting rules about bail (conditions of bail).
They also keep a record of what the defence lawyer says about bail.
All this information is kept in a file.
This means we have a record of what happens.
Then if the defence lawyer says things have changed and the defendant should be given bail, we can deal with it.
These records also give us clues about what the defence lawyer will say at the trial.
Next page: Standard 6. Work fast for justice.
Previous page: Standard 4. Make the right charging decisions.
Glossary
- Appeal
- When you appeal in a court you ask the court to change its decision.
There are rules about who can appeal, when you can appeal and which court listens to your appeal. - Bail
- Being given bail means being let out of prison to wait for your trial.
- Charge
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A charge is made when the Crown Prosecution Service say that they think a person has done a crime and should go to court.
The court will decide if there is enough evidence to show that the person did do the crime. - Conditional Bail
- Conditional Bail means there are a set of rules you have to keep to if you want to stay out of prison before your trial.
- Court Hearing
- A court hearing is when people involved in a court case meet with a judge or magistrate at court to decide something about the case.
There are often several hearings before a trial. - Crime
- A Crime is something someone has done that breaks the law.
- Defendant
A defendant is a person accused of a crime.- Evidence
- Evidence is information that makes it clear that something happened.
Evidence can be things like someone saying they saw a crime happen, or blood on a weapon, or who did it. - Judge
- The Judge is the head of the court who decides about things to do with the law.
In some courts the Judge decides if the defendant did the crime.
In other courts the Jury tell the Judge if they think the defendant did the crime. The Judge makes sure the trial is fair, tells the jury about the law and decides the sentence. - Magistrate
Magistrates are trained volunteers who deal with about 95% of the criminal cases in England and Wales.
Magistrates make decisions in magistrates' courts. They usually work in twos or threes (called a bench). They have a legal adviser to help them with the law.- Oppose Bail
- When we oppose bail we tell the court that we think the person charged with the crime should stay in prison before their trial.
- Prosecutor
Prosecutors are lawyers who represent the people.
Prosecutors speak in court to accuse a person of a crime.
They show the court the evidence they have found.
They do this to protect the public.- Trial
- When someone is charged with a crime there is a trial to decide if they did or didn't do it.
The trial is held in a court and the judge or magistrate listens to evidence from the Prosecutors (who think the person did the crime) and the defence (who think the person didn't do the crime).
The Prosecutors have to prove that the person did the crime before they can be found guilty and punished. - Victim
- The victim is the person the crime was done to.
- Victim Personal Statement
- The victim personal statement is where the victim can say how the crime has affected them.
The Victim Personal Statement is read to the court before the sentence is given by the Judge or Magistrates. - Witness
A witness is a person who sees the crime being done, or sees or knows something that shows who did it.
