NCJ Number
183446
Journal
Howard Journal of Criminal Justice Volume: 39 Issue: 2 Dated: May 2000 Pages: 150-170
Editor(s)
Tony Fowles,
David Wilson
Date Published
2000
Length
21 pages
Annotation
During the early 1990's, the problem of offending on bail in England attracted a great deal of attention from politicians, the police, the media, and the general public, resulting in new legislation aimed at tackling the problem.
Abstract
Bail provisions in the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act of 1994 represented one of these initiatives. The act removes the presumption of bail for defendants who have allegedly committed certain types of offenses on bail and enables the police to attach conditions to police bail. Research to investigate the impact of some of these legal changes found the bail provisions had little practical effect on the number of defendants who allegedly committed offenses on bail and were remanded in custody. The research did, however, identify an increase in the number of such defendants who were granted bail with conditions. Changes were found in remand decisions for two groups of defendants: (1) those charged with serious offenses who already had a bail history, and (2) defendants charged with vehicle crime and burglary. The authors argue that these changes reflected broader political and media debate about offending on bail rather than being the result of legal changes incorporated in the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act of 1994. 27 references, 21 notes, and 9 tables