4 days bail only

[AndyHB]

According to a ruling made by a judge a month or so ago, it is unacceptable to release someone on bail for longer than 4 days (only in England and Wales, mind).  Having spoken to a custody officer in a police force in Wales only this morning, he was saying that this new ruling is making for real complication in cases: as a result, the Government are to bring in emergency legislation to overturn the ruling.

Do you feel that is a good ruling, or are the Government right to introduce this emergency legislation?  What's the situation in Scotland (and N. Ireland)?

[AndrewF]

Actually there seems to have been a bit of a mountain made out of a molehill IMO. The law states that police can only hold people for 4 days of questioning after which they have to charge or release. However they can re-arrest if fresh evidence comes to light. This is still a possibility. If they cant charge someone after 4 days of questioning them then they probably don't have enough evidence to charge them (and will not get it from them).  If released on bail because they don't have enough to charge yet and the 4 days expire, unless they get fresh evidence there probably will not be enough to charge the person. OTOH if other interviews or investigations produce furter evidence pointing to the (released) person they can then re-arrest!

[ecuworrier]

i did hear something on that topic on the radio.... the current 'scandal' is that folks can remain on bail for months without being charged for the crimes they were originally arrested for.....   am not sure how this works in practice but for folks that are innocent i can see how it might be pretty upsetting ... the police don't always have all the evidence in place... i imagine that for criminal defence lawyers and legal representatives this can be a real nuisance too... 

 i can see how 4 days in some instances may seem a bit short while the reasons for the changes being brought in make sense too... ie a case that is put to one side for lack of immediate leads and evidence

GOD BLESS!

Peace and Love,

[AndyHB]

From what I can understand, after speaking to various police officers, the problems arise when there are a number of suspects and or witnesses, whose statements need to be corrobarated against each other.

By releasing people after 4 days, they can arrange to have aliases 'confirmed' or potential witnesses put under pressure.  Furthermore, when suspects caome in under the influence, the police are obliged to allow them up to 18 hours (IIRC) to recover.  This means that the time for questioning is often considerably less than the 96 hours refeerred to by the judge.