The Police and Bail

• Author: Gary T Trotter
• Pages: 21-29

21

CHAPTER 2

The Police and Bail

1. INTRODUCTION

When the topic of bail is disc ussed, it generally conjures up images of

an in-court process, involving lawyers and a judge, while the accused

person quietly looks on. is reects a good part of the process. But

it is only part of it.

e Cr iminal Code1 provides police ocers with the option of al-

lowing (most) accused persons to remain at large after bei ng charged.

In short, there are mechanisms by which the police may compel an

accused person to attend in court to face the charge(s), without hold-

ing them in custody for a bail hearing. In other words, except in the

most serious of cases, police ocers may make bai l decisions. But if a

decision is made to hold the arrested person in custody, the police are

obliged to ensure that the person is brought to court promptly.

2. GETTING OUT: COMPELLING APPEARANCE2

Prior to the enactment of the Bail Reform Act,3 police ocers were

given two choices when dealing with someone arrested with an of-

fence. e police could hold the person in custody and then take her

to court for a bail hearing. Alternatively, the police could release the

accused person and subsequently follow up by serving t he person

with a summons to attend court.

ere were problems associated with this lim ited range of options,

largely to do with the shortcomings of the summons. By way of back-

ground, a summons is a court-authorized order that must be ser ved

upon (given to) the person to whom it is directed. e summons com-

mands attendance in court at a particular time and location. Failure

to attend in court after being ser ved with a summons is a criminal

oence, found in section 145 of the Criminal Code.