Bail Lawyers

After you are charged by police, they must decide ‘as soon as reasonably practicable’ whether they will give you bail at the police station (s18, Bail Act).

If police refuse to give you bail, you will be brought before a court ‘as soon as practicable’ (usually the next morning) (s20).

At that time, Sydney Criminal Lawyers can apply to get you out of custody on bail.

Certain matters must be taken into account in deciding whether or not you get bail.

Those matters are outlined in section 32 of the Bail Act, and can be grouped into three broad categories:

1. The likelihood that you will appear in Court on the next occasion (s32(1)(a));
2. Your interests (s32(b)); and
3. The protection of any victims of the crime (s32(b1)) and of the community generally (s32(c)).

Another very important factor is the type of offence/s you are charged with.

For some offences, there is a ‘right to bail'.

For others, there are rules called ‘presumptions’, which are rules that control whether bail will normally be granted or refused.

The type of ‘presumption’ will determine which party (the defence (you) or the prosecution) has to positively convince the Magistrate of their case (ie for or against bail).

For example, if there is a presumption in favour of bail, the Magistrate must grant bail unless convinced that bail should not be granted in the particular case.

An ‘acceptable person’ is someone who has known you for some time (usually at least several months) and who has no criminal convictions, outstanding criminal charges or bankruptcy proceedings against him/her.

That person is required to complete an acceptable person information form to be eligible as your ‘bail guarantor’.

A ‘bail guarantor’ (also known as a ‘surety’) is an ‘acceptable person’ who agrees to lodge or deposit a ‘security’ and/or to forfeit an amount of money if you fail to appear in Court.

If, while on bail, you breach any of your bail conditions without a reasonable excuse, you can be arrested by police and taken into custody.

You will then be brought before a Court and your bail may be revoked (cancelled). If that occurs, you will not normally get bail again.

If you are on bail and you fail to appear in Court, the presiding Magistrate, Judge or Justice can (a) issue a ‘bench warrant’ (for your arrest), and (b) order that any amounts that you or your ‘surety’ agreed to forfeit are forfeited.

The Court will notify you by post of any such order.

You have 28 days to lodge an objection to the order.

If you do so, the Court can (a) revoke the order, (b) vary the order (possibly reducing the amount forfeited) or (c) confirm the order.

If the order is not revoked and there are unpaid amounts, the State Debt Recovery Office may take action against you and/or your ‘surety’.

There can be many reasons why you cannot comply with a bail condition, whether on a particular occasion or at all.

a) I can’t comply on a particular occasion only
You might, on occasion, be so sick that you are unable to report to police and/or to attend your drug or alcohol program.

Similarly, you might suffer a mishap or accident and be unable to get home in time for your ‘curfew’.

In such cases, you must immediately contact the police station where you are expected to report (or the police in charge of your matter if you are not required to report) and inform them of your circumstances.

You must also inform your drug and/or alcohol program coordinator (if applicable).

If you are sick, you must obtain a medical certificate and present it to police as soon as possible.

Note, however, that a general medical certificate and/or a good explanation may not always get you off the hook.

You may need to show that the illness was so serious, or the problem was so unavoidable, that you could not reasonably be expected to meet your bail conditions on that day.

b) I can’t comply at all
There may be a bail condition that you can never meet eg where an ‘acceptable person’ promises to lodge a ‘security’ but fails to do so, and you cannot get anyone else to lodge one.

Another example is where you are required to live with your parents at a particular place, and your parents move to another place.

In such cases, Sydney Criminal Lawyers can arrange with the Court Registry to have your matter brought before the Court for a ‘bail variation’ seeking to change one or more of your bail conditions.

Sydney Criminal Lawyers can also contact the opposing legal officer (eg a police sergeant or a DPP lawyer) to see if that officer will:

(a) ‘consent’ (agree) to the change/s, and/or

(b) agree not to oppose your bail generally (note – the opposing officer may oppose your release on bail altogether even if you are already out of custody).

Sydney Criminal Lawyers can then:

(i) advise you of the chances of getting your bail varied,

(ii) advise you of any risks (especially if bail is likely to be opposed generally), and

(iii) arrange and conduct the application in Court.

As you normally only have 'one shot at bail' in the Local Court, it is important to get experienced bail lawyers such as the lawyers at Sydney Criminal Lawyers to properly prepare your bail application for you.

If you have been refused bail in the Local Court, Sydney Criminal Lawyers can apply to the Supreme Court for NSW for a 'Supreme Court Bail Application'.

Sydney Criminal Lawyers offer 'Fixed Fees' and an 'Accredited Criminal Law Specialist Guarantee' for all bail applications.

The Supreme Court will only consider your bail application once (except on rare occasions when the Court is convinced that there are fresh facts or circumstances that justify another application) (s22A).

So it is very important that you have the right bail lawyer to represent you in the Supreme Court.

Sydney Criminal Lawyers has a very high success rate in Supreme Court Bail Applications.

We have obtained bail for clients accused of murder, commercial drug importation, serious robberies and many other types of serious offences.

Sydney Criminal Lawyers will assist you to prepare all materials that might assist in your bail application.

We may guide you towards arranging:

• persons who have known you for some time and who know you are of good character, especially persons who hold a ‘respectable’ position in the community (eg your local priest, professional persons (doctors, accountants etc) business leaders/persons etc), your former employer/s, person/s who you intend to live with if released on bail, ‘acceptable persons’ who are willing to lodge property or deposit money as security for your bail etc; and
• any Certificates you have received for courses completed while in custody (eg TAFE, drug & alcohol, anger management etc);
• any other documents or things that you think might help convince the Court that you are a ‘good citizen’ and will attend Court if released on bail.

It may help your case if you show that you are willing to attend a rehabilitation program if released.

To do this, Sydney Criminal Lawyers may contact and obtain materials from a relevant rehabilitation centre before applying for bail.

After your matter is finalised, you (and your ‘bail guarantor’) are entitled to your ‘security’, provided of course that you appeared in Court on all occasions.

Your bail money will be refunded as a cheque, even if it was deposited as cash. To get your cheque, you must:

1. Go to the Registry of the Court where your case was finalised, obtain your ‘ bail refund letter’ and send or fax that letter (or arrange for the Court to send or fax it) to the Supreme Court Bails Matters Counter (4th Floor, Law Courts Building, Queens Square, Sydney; fax 9230 8060); then
2. Go to the Supreme Court Bails Matters Counter with (a) the original receipt for your bail, and (b) two forms of identification with your signature. If you would rather get your cheque from your nearest Local Court, you must write to the Bails Clerk, GPO Box 3, Sydney 2000, attaching a copy of your ‘bail refund letter’. In that case, you will need to wait 7-10 days for the refund, and you will still have to show the original bail receipt and identification.

The Court officially records its legal interest in any property lodged (eg the title deed for a house) as security for bail.

That record, called a ‘caveat’, prevents you from dealing with the property (eg selling the house).

In order to get back your property and remove the caveat, you must:

1. Go to the Registry of the Court where your case was finalised, obtain your ‘bail refund letter’ and send or fax that letter (or arrange for the Court to send or fax it) to the Supreme Court Bails Matters Counter (4th Floor, Law Courts Building, Queens Square, Sydney; fax 9230 8060); then
2. Complete a ‘Withdrawal of Caveat’ form, which are available from legal stationery shops and the Supreme Court Bails Matters Counter; then
3. Go to the Supreme Court Bails Matters Counter with (a) your completed ‘Withdrawal of Caveat’ form, and (b) two forms of identification with your signature. The Deputy Registrar will sign the ‘Withdrawal of Caveat’ form and return it together with your bail documents; then
4. Take all documents to the ‘Land and Property Information’ building (formerly the ‘Land Titles Office’) Queens Square, Sydney (across Macquarie Street) to have the ‘caveat’ removed.