How many times can the police extend bail?
The bail decision will be made by a custody officer, who has the necessary skills and experience in making risk-based decisions, as well as independence from the investigation itself. Two further extensions will be available; from three to six months by an Inspector and from six to nine months by a Superintendent.
An extended bail period may point towards the notion that the police are struggling to find sufficient evidence to charge you, while on the other hand, it may simply indicate that they are using the extra time to build a more compelling case.
28 days maximum for standard criminal cases
There are still provisions for the police to release suspects with bail conditions.
If the police want to release a suspect on bail with conditions whilst they conduct further investigations they must give them a bail date of within a 28 day period. This can be extended for a further three months if authorised by a senior police officer, or Superintendent rank or above .
In those cases, pre-charge bail can be up to three months. This change to the law was made in order to address the common practice among police forces of releasing suspects on bail for months at a time, whilst failing to progress police investigations.
The police can hold you for up to 24 hours before they have to charge you with a crime or release you. They can apply to hold you for up to 36 or 96 hours if you're suspected of a serious crime, eg murder.
Bail is a mechanism used to ensure that the accused is present before the court and is available for Trial.
Your case can be dropped while you're on bail. If you are bailed without charge, called 'pre-charge bail' this means that you will have to appear at a police station at a later date. This is so that the police can look over the evidence and decide whether or not to charge you.
If you have been released on court bail, your bail will end when: your case is dropped (e.g., if the CPS decides not to charge you) you are sentenced (if you are found guilty) you are found not guilty and told 'you are free to go'
This means the police have 28 days to make a decision about charging or releasing a suspect on bail. If you're on bail after being charged, bail will last until your scheduled appearance in the Magistrate's Court. After this, the court will set new bail conditions.
How long can magistrates extend bail for?
You are responsible for the decision of whether to authorise an additional bail period of up to three months. District/Branch Commanders: You are responsible for the governance of investigations where a suspect has been released under investigation or on police bail.
Alternatively, you may wish to contact your solicitor, to make representations on your behalf. If the court has given you bail conditions, it is the court who have the power to alter the conditions. The police cannot alter bail conditions given at court.

There is no limit to the number of times a person can be bailed without charge. The police are under an obligation to conduct investigations “diligently and efficiently” – those two obligations are at odds with one another, which means that the new time limit on bail has caused the police some real problems.
Variation of police imposed bail conditions
The magistrates' court on application by the suspect (section 47(1E) PACE). The magistrates can confirm the same conditions, impose different conditions, or direct that bail shall be unconditional.
If you have been released under investigation, it means that the police are continuing to investigate the alleged criminal offence. There are no time limits the police will set for the investigation. There are also no conditions which you must follow, unlike being placed on bail.
When can the police place conditions on bail? The police can impose conditions on someone's bail if they think granting unconditional bail is too risky – for example, if they think the suspect might run away, refuse to take part in the criminal proceedings, interfere with witnesses, or commit further offences.
If a defendant is held in prison, they may apply for bail again, but usually only when there has been a change in circumstances since they last applied for bail.
Length of bail conditions
There is a set criteria for extending bail beyond the 28 day limit; Bail period granted on the authority of a police officer ranked Superintendent or above; Granted until the end of 3 months from the original 28 day bail start date.
127 of the Magistrates' Court Act 1980 enforces a strict time limit of 6 months from the time the offence is committed for the information to be 'laid on the court' in the majority of cases. There are some niche exceptions which apply to this rule.
The police will hold your property until all relevant matters have been dealt with. Once the letter of authorisation has been sent to you the general procedure is for them to wait 28 days for you to collect your property or for a response either by telephone or in writing.
Can police investigate after bail?
Can Police call someone for investigation even if granted anticipatory bail by the court? Yes, certainly. The court only forbids the arrest but does not prevent police from calling the accused for investigation.
Awaiting your court date
If you are kept in police custody, you will be presented to the magistrates' court usually the next day, unless it is a Sunday, in which case the earliest sitting day for court is Monday.
They can be: remanded on bail, meaning they are allowed to return home until the court hearing (sometimes with certain conditions) remanded in custody, which means they are held in prison. not remanded – for example, because they were given an immediate custodial sentence.
The bail once granted cannot be cancelled in a mechanical manner without considering the post bail conduct of the accused and whether any supervening circumstances have rendered. The order of bail can be set-aside and annulled only by the superior courts when the order is unjustified, illegal and perverse.
According to section 436 of CrPC, If the offence alleged is bailable, then, the Accused is entitled for Bail as a matter of right, may be before Police station itself, or if forwarded to Magistrates Court, before Magistrates court. In bailable offences bail is a right and not a favour.
You could be arrested, fined or sent to prison. If you commit an offence while on bail your sentence will be greater. [If applicable.] Your case is listed for trial on the next occasion.
After accused going on bail,the police will submit case diary with charge sheet in the court,then the accused after receaving summon from court again will go on regular bail. After imformant and witnesses getting summon from court, trail will start.
Effectively, this means the police must charge (or lay an information before a Magistrates' Clerk) within six months of the date of the offence (section 127(1) Magistrates' Courts Act 1980). For all other offences, there is no statutory time limit.
These are: There are reasonable grounds to suspect that the person to be charged has committed the offence. Further evidence can be obtained to provide a realistic prospect of conviction. The seriousness or the circumstances of the case justifies the making of an immediate charging decision.
: being investigated : being looked into to try to find out the facts. The accident is under investigation.
What are the 3 main grounds for refusing bail?
any financial loss the accused may suffer owing to the detention. any impediment to the preparation of the accused's defence or any delay in obtaining legal representation the detention might cause. the health of the accused. any other factor the court believes should be taken into account.
Primary ground: detention is required to ensure that the accused will attend court as required. Secondary ground: detention is required for the protection of the public. Tertiary ground: detention is required to maintain the public's confidence in the justice system.
- Regular bail (in Bailable and Non-Bailable offences),
- Anticipatory bail,
- Interim Bail,
- Default Bail.
Being released under investigation means that the police believe that you may have committed a criminal offence but they do not have sufficient evidence to charge you. They also cannot hold you in custody while they carry out further investigations.
Release under investigation (RUI) is used by the police instead of bail – but unlike pre-charge bail it has no time limits or conditions. This can leave the accused and alleged victims in limbo with no updates on their case for an unlimited time.
- Viewing the scene of a crime.
- A warrant being executed at a premises (or dawn raid)
- Obtaining a restraint order.
- Obtaining a production order.
- Collecting physical and forensic evidence.
- Obtaining witness statements.
- Instructing an expert.
- Conducting interviews under caution.
Bail application once rejected can again be filed if there is any change in circumstances. There is no prohibition to file a successive bail application unless there is a change in circumstances. So as per rule of practice usually second bail application in the same court is filed after filing of chargesheet.
You have two chances to apply for bail at the magistrates court, or if there is a change in your circumstances. If this fails, you can apply for bail again at the crown court, known as 'judge in chambers. ' You can also go to the High Court but this is rare.
If a defendant is held in prison, they may apply for bail again, but usually only when there has been a change in circumstances since they last applied for bail.
Crimes like Sedition, rape, dowry death, abetment to suicide, attempt to murder, etc. come under non-bailable\ offenses. A person who is in prison can seek bail under Sections 437 and 439 of the CrPC. In other words, a person can only get this bail if they get arrested.
Whats the longest you can be on remand?
The length of time that someone can be held in prison awaiting trial in the Crown Court is six months. In September 2020, the Government increased the time lime to eight months.
Typically, a suspect will be remanded only if it is likely that he or she could commit a serious crime, interfere with the investigation, or fail to come to the trial. In the majority of court cases, the suspect will not be in detention while awaiting trial, often with restrictions such as bail.
You can be given bail at the police station after you've been charged. This means you'll be released from custody until your first court hearing. If you're given bail, you might have to agree to conditions like: living at a particular address.
Once the relevant searches have taken place, the police are unlikely to attend your house to check on you whilst you are on bail unless you are suspected of breaching your bail conditions or of committing further offences.
Generally, the standard time the police can hold you for is 24 hours until they will need to charge you with a criminal offence or release you. In exceptional circumstances, they can apply to hold you for longer, up to 36 or 96 hours. This is usually if you are suspected of more serious crimes such a murder.
Can I go on holiday whilst on bail? Being on bail in itself will not prevent you from going on holiday or from leaving the country provided you are able to attend the police station or court when required to do so. However, it is the conditions of bail which might prevent such travel.
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