Bail

Pursuant to section 10 of the Law Reform Commission Act 1967, the Law Reform Commission is to review bail law in NSW. In undertaking this inquiry the Commission should develop a legislative framework that provides access to bail in appropriate cases having regard to:

• whether the Bail Act should include a statement of its objects and if so, what those objects should be;
• whether the Bail Act should include a statement of the factors to be taken into account in determining a bail application and if so, what those factors should be;
• what presumptions should apply to bail determinations and how they should apply;
• the available responses to a breach of bail including the legislative framework for the exercise of police and judicial discretion when responding to a breach;
• the desirability of maintaining s22A;
• whether the Bail Act should make a distinction between young offenders and adults and if so, what special provision should apply to young offenders;
• whether special provisions should apply to vulnerable people including Aboriginal people and Torres Strait Islanders, cognitively impaired people and those with a mental illness. In considering this question particular attention should be given to how the latter two categories of people should be defined;
• the terms of bail schemes operating in other jurisdictions, in particular those with a relatively low and stable remand population, such as the UK and Australian states such as Victoria, and of any reviews of those schemes; and,
• any other related matter.