Bail Hearings

Sometimes when an individual is released on bail, on probation, or given a conditional sentence, they are told not to communicate or be in the presence of certain people.

If you’ve been charged criminally and released on bail, your life has likely been made more difficult by complex restrictions placed on you by the courts.

If you are facing bail conditions, it is critical that you abide by them and not make any unilateral decisions. This can have a detrimental impact not only on your liberty, but also on how your case unfolds. For variation in your conditions, a process of change of bail conditions must be completed.

When the police arrest someone, this person (often referred to as the “accused” or “defendant”) can either be released right at the scene, from the police station or after a bail hearing, which takes place in a criminal courthouse.

A block fee might be compared to having work done on your car. Perhaps your garage charges a certain amount to have your brakes fixed and you have certainty knowing what the bill will be once the work is done.

If someone you know has been charged with a criminal offence and is in custody, then he or she will be afforded a bail hearing within 24 hours.

Bail refers to the temporary release of an accused person from jail. If the court is not certain that the accused will appear in court or abide by all the conditions being released, then the presiding judge may hold the accused in custody, or be released with some type of supervision.

Assuming that you have been obeying the conditions, there are ways in which a change of condition can happen.

A new policy directive from the Public Prosecution Service published April 1, 2019 hopes to change how the service deals with those accused persons addicted to drugs who breach conditions placed on them while on bail.