Bail II
Criteria for Bail I
In exercising its jurisdiction in relation to bail , a court shall take into account and may, where necessary, receive evidence or submissions concerning—
- the nature and degree of seriousness of the offence with which the accused person is charged and the sentence likely to be imposed on conviction,
- the nature and degree of seriousness of the offence apprehended and the sentence likely to be imposed on conviction,
- the nature and strength of the evidence in support of the charge,
- any conviction of the accused person for an offence committed while he or she was on bail,
- any previous convictions of the accused person including any conviction the subject of an appeal (which has neither been determined nor withdrawn) to a court,
- any other offence in respect of which the accused person is charged and is awaiting trial,
Where it has taken into account one or more of the foregoing, it may also take into account—
- the fact that the accused person is addicted to a controlled drug within the meaning of the Misuse of Drugs Act ,
- the extent to which the number and frequency of any previous convictions of the accused person for serious offences indicate persistent serious offending by the accused person, and
- the nature and likelihood of any danger to the life or personal safety of any person or danger to the community that may be presented by the release on bail of a person charged with an offence punishable by imprisonment for a term of 10 years or by a more severe penalty.”.
In a bail application the court may also take into account
- that the accused person refrains from having contact (direct or indirect) with the person in respect of whom the offence is alleged to have been committed or any member of his or her family unless such contact is approved by the court,
- that the accused person shall not drive a mechanically propelled vehicle (within the meaning of the Road Traffic Act 1961 ) where the person has been charged with a serious offence relating to the driving of such a vehicle and the court considers it necessary to impose such a condition to prevent the commission of a serious offence connected with the driving of such a vehicle,
- that the accused person shall be at a specified place between specified times during the period commencing at 9.00 p.m. on each day and ending at 6.00 a.m. on each following day.,
Danger Posed
A court considering an application for bail may, on the application of a member of the Garda Síochána, hear evidence from the person in respect of whom the offence is alleged to have been committed as to:
- the likelihood of direct or indirect interference or attempted interference by the accused person with the person in respect of whom the offence is alleged to have been committed or a member or his or her family; and
- the nature and seriousness of any danger to any person that may be presented by the release of the accused person on bail.
For this purpose the court may
- where the person in respect of whom the offence is alleged to have been committed is a child under the age of 14 years, hear the evidence of the child or his or her parent or guardian on behalf of the child,
- where the person in respect of whom the offence is alleged to have been committed is a person with a mental disorder, hear the evidence of the person or a family member on behalf of the person.
Mental disorder’ has the meaning assigned to it by the Mental Health Act 2001 ;
Family Definition
‘child’ means a person under the age of 18 years;
‘family member’ means—,
- a spouse of partner of the person
- a child, grandchild, parent, grandparent, aunt, nephew or niece of the person,
- a person who is acting in loco parentis to the person,
- a dependant of the person, or
- any other person with whom, in the opinion of the court, the person has a close connection;
‘guardian’, in relation to a child, has the meaning assigned to it by the Children Act 2001 ;
Reasons
Where an application for bail is made or renewed by a person charged with an offence, a court shall give reasons for its decision to grant or refuse the application including reasons for a decision to impose or vary any conditions to be contained in the recognisance to be entered into by the person.
Breach of Recognisance; Arrest
Where a member of the Garda Síochána with reasonable cause, suspects that a person who has been admitted to bail—
- is about to contravene any of the conditions of the recognisance,
- is in the act of contravening any of the conditions of the recognisance, or
- has contravened any of the conditions of the recognisance,
and considers that it is necessary to arrest the person immediately to prevent harm to, interference with or intimidation of the person in respect of whom the offence is alleged to have been committed, a witness to the offence alleged or certain other other persons specified in a bail condition he or she may arrest the person without warrant.
No Publication
The court may, in the interests of justice, order that information relating to the evidence given above or any part of that information shall not be published or broadcast. If any matter is published or broadcast in contravention o the following persons, namely—
- in the case of a publication in a newspaper or periodical, any proprietor, any editor and any publisher of the newspaper or periodical,
- in the case of any other publication, the person who publishes it, and
- in the case of a broadcast, any person who transmits or provides the programme in which the broadcast is made and any person having functions in relation to the programme corresponding to those of the editor of a newspaper,
shall be guilty of an offence. Publish means publish, other than by way of broadcast, to the public or a portion of the public.”.
A person guilty of this offence shall be liable—
- on summary conviction, to a class A fine or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or both, or
- on conviction on indictment, to a fine not exceeding €50,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 years or both.
Where an offence is committed by a body corporate and it is proved that the offence was committed with the consent or connivance of any person being a director, manager, secretary or other officer of the body corporate, or a person who was purporting to act in that capacity, that person shall, as well as the body corporate, be guilty of an offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished as if he or she were guilty of the first-mentioned offence.
Breach of Peace/ Intoxicated
Where a person is in custody in a Garda Síochána station having been arrested for breach of the peace or the statutory equivalent, and is, would be otherwise be released from custody, he or she may, if the member of the Garda Síochána for the time being in charge of the Garda Síochána station is of opinion that the person is intoxicated to such an extent as would give rise to a reasonable apprehension that the person might endanger himself or herself or other persons, be detained in custody for such period, not exceeding 6 hours from the time of his or her arrest, as the member of the Garda Síochána so in charge remains of that opinion.
Minor
Where the member of the Garda Síochána for the time being in charge of the Garda Síochána station is of opinion that the person detained is under the age of 18 years, the member shall, upon the attendance at the station of a parent or guardian of the person or of a person reasonably named by the person so detained, release the person into the custody of the parent or guardian or the person reasonably named, unless the member is of opinion that the person continues to be intoxicated to such an extent that, if so released, he or she will continue to give rise to a reasonable apprehension that he or she might endanger himself or herself or other persons.