XHEAD – What must a person released on bail do?
1. Appear in court on the date specified
2. Follow all the other conditions set
XHEAD – What if he does not appear in court?
The magistrate may issue a warrant of arrest. If so, then the accused
will be rearrested by the police and brought to court. If the
magistrate is satisfied that justice would be defeated if the accused
remained on bail, he may commit the accused to prison and order that
the bail be forfeited to the state.Â
XHEAD – Juveniles under 18
A person under 18 will be given special treatment. The court or the
police officer may release a juvenile who has been arrested in one of
the following ways:
•   The court may order the person to appear before the court at a
specified time, but without requiring any bail money to be paid.
•   The court may release the minor into the care of his parent or
guardian who will be ordered to bring him on the trial date and the
parent may be fined if he fails to appear.
•   The court may decide that the juvenile should be placed in a
remand home for young offenders, where he is required to stay until the
trial date.
When someone under 18 is charged with an offence, a Social Welfare
Officer must be called to interview the child and if he has no parent
to come to court, the social worker will stand in the place of the
parent.
XHEAD – Why bail?
A person who has been arrested may or may not have committed the crime.
When he is arrested he is only a suspect. Before we can say he is
guilty, he must be charged with a crime and then taken to court for
trial. If the magistrate or the judge finds that he is guilty, then we
can say he is a criminal, and he will have to be punished. His
punishment could be a fine, some days or months in prison or community
service.
But before a person is found guilty (convicted) by a court, the law
says that we assume he is innocent. One of the rights that all people
are entitled to is the right to liberty and freedom of movement. Of
course, if the person has committed a crime, this right may be taken
away for a while, but until he is convicted, he should not be punished.
He could however, be kept in prison if he is considered to be dangerous
to the public.
Usually, a person who has been arrested and charged with an offence has
to wait some time for his trial. This gives the police and the
prosecutor time to gather all the evidence against him, and gives him
time to prepare his defense. There are also frequent delays, since the
courts are very busy.Â
So, remember, while a person is waiting for his trial, he is still
presumed innocent; therefore he should not be punished by being
deprived of his right to personal freedom. This is why an accused
person is usually released from police custody or from prison to wait
for his trial at home. In order to make sure that he does come for the
trial, he is asked to pay bail.Â