Bail etc. (Scotland) Act 1980
Bail etc. (Scotland)Act 1980
1980 CHAPTER 4
An Act to amend the law of Scotland relating to bail and the interim liberation of persons who have been arrested and to make provision in respect of the sittings of the sheriff and district courts.
[31st January 1980]
Be it enacted by the Queen's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:—
1 Release on conditions.
(1) After the commencement of this Act, it shall not be lawful to grant bail or release for a pledge or deposit of money, and—
(a ) release on bail may be granted only on conditions which, subject to subsection (3) below, shall not include a pledge or deposit of money;
(b ) liberation may be granted by the police under section 18, 294, 295 or 296 of the 1975 Act as amended by sections 7 to 9 of this Act.
(2) The conditions which the court or, as the case may be, the Lord Advocate imposes in granting bail shall be such as the court or the Lord Advocate considers necessary to secure that the accused—
(a ) appears at the appointed time at every diet relating to the offence with which he is charged of which he is given due notice;
(b ) does not commit an offence while on bail;
(c ) does not interfere with witnesses or otherwise obstruct the course of justice whether in relation to himself or any other person; and
(d ) makes himself available for the purposes of enabling inquiries or a report to be made to assist the court in dealing with him for the offence with which he is charged.
(3) The court or, as the case may be, the Lord Advocate may impose as one of the conditions of release on bail a requirement that the accused or a cautioner on his behalf deposits a sum of money in court, but only where the court or, as the case may be, the Lord Advocate is satisfied that the imposition of such condition is appropriate to the special circumstances of the case.
(4) In any enactment, including the following provisions of this Act and any enactment passed after this Act—
(a ) any reference to bail shall be construed as a reference to release on conditions in accordance with this Act or to conditions imposed on bail, as the context requires;
(b ) any reference to an amount of bail fixed shall be construed as a reference to conditions, including a sum required to be deposited under subsection (3) above;
(c ) any reference to finding bail or finding sufficient bail shall be construed as a reference to acceptance of conditions imposed or the finding of a sum required to be deposited under subsection (3) above.
(5) In this section and sections 2 to 4 of this Act, references to an accused and to appearance at a diet shall include references respectively to an appellant and to appearance at the court on the day fixed for the hearing of an appeal.
2 Provisions supplementary to s. 1.
(1) The court shall specify in the order granting bail, a copy of which shall be given to the accused—
(a ) the conditions imposed; and
(b ) an address, within the United Kingdom (being the accused's normal place of residence or such other place as the court may, on cause shown, direct) which, subject to subsection (2) below, shall be his proper domicile of citation.
(2) The court may on application in writing by the accused while he is on bail alter the address specified in the order granting bail, and this new address shall, as from such date as the court may direct, become his proper domicile of citation; and the court shall notify the accused of its decision on any application under this subsection.
(3) In this section ‘proper domicile of citation’ means the address at which the accused may be cited to appear at any diet relating to the offence with which he is charged or an offence charged in the same proceedings as that offence or to which any other intimation or document may be sent; and any citation at or the sending of an intimation or document to the proper domicile of citation shall be presumed to have been duly carried out.
3 Breach of conditions.
(1) Subject to subsection (3) below, an accused who having been granted bail fails without reasonable excuse—
(a ) to appear at the time and place appointed for any diet of which he has been given due notice; or
(b ) to comply with any other condition imposed on bail;
shall be guilty of an offence and liable on conviction to the penalties specified in subsection (2) below.
(2) The penalties mentioned in subsection (1) above are—
(a ) a fine not exceeding 200; and
(b ) imprisonment for a period—
(i) where conviction is in the district court, not exceeding 60 days; or
(ii) where conviction is in the sheriff court or in the High Court, not exceeding 3 months.
(3) An accused who having been granted bail in relation to solemn proceedings fails without reasonable excuse to appear at the time and place appointed for any diet of which he has been given due notice (where such diet is in respect of solemn proceedings) shall be guilty of an offence and liable on conviction on indictment to the following penalties—
(a ) a fine; and
(b ) imprisonment for a period not exceeding 2 years.
(4) At any time before the trial of an accused under solemn procedure for the original offence, it shall be competent—
(a ) to amend the indictment to include an additional charge of an offence under this section;
(b ) to include in the list of witnesses or productions relating to the original offence, witnesses or productions relating to the offence under this section.
(5) The penalties provided for in subsection (2) above may be imposed in addition to any other penalty which it is competent for the court to impose, notwithstanding that the total of penalties imposed may exceed the maximum penalty which it is competent to impose in respect of the original offence.
(6) A court which finds an accused guilty of an offence under this section may remit the accused for sentence in respect of that offence to any court which is considering the original offence.
(7) A constable may arrest without warrant an accused who has been released on bail where the constable has reasonable grounds for suspecting that the accused has broken, is breaking, or is likely to break any condition imposed on his bail.
(8) An accused who is arrested under this section shall wherever practicable be brought before the court to which his application for bail was first made not later than in the course of the first day after his arrest, such day not being a Saturday, a Sunday or a court holiday prescribed for that court under section 10 of this Act:
Provided that nothing in this subsection shall prevent such person being brought before a court on a Saturday, a Sunday or such a court holiday where the court is, in pursuance of the said section 10, sitting on such day for the disposal of criminal business.
(9) Where an accused is brought before a court under subsection (8) above, the court, after hearing the parties, may—
(a ) recall the order granting bail;
(b ) release the accused under the original order granting bail; or
(c ) vary the order granting bail so as to contain such conditions as the court thinks it necessary to impose to secure that the accused complies with the requirements of paragraphs (a ) to (d ) of section 1(2) of this Act.
(10) The same rights of appeal shall be available against any decision of the court under subsection (9) above as were available against the original order of the court relating to bail.
(11) For the purposes of this section, an extract from the minute of proceedings, containing the order granting bail and bearing to be signed by the clerk of court, shall be sufficient evidence of the making of that order and of its terms and of the acceptance by the accused of the conditions imposed under section 1 of this Act.
(12) In this section ‘the original offence’ means the offence with which the accused was charged when he was granted bail or an offence charged in the same proceedings as that offence.
4 Provisions relating to monetary conditions.
(1) Without prejudice to section 3 of this Act, where the accused or a cautioner on his behalf has deposited a sum of money in court under section 1(3) of this Act, then—
(a ) if the accused fails to appear at the time and place appointed for any diet of which he has been given due notice, the court may, on the motion of the prosecutor, immediately order forfeiture of the sum deposited:
Provided that the court, if it is satisfied that it is reasonable in all the circumstances to do so, may recall the order and direct that the money forfeited shall be refunded, and any decision of the court under this proviso shall be final and not subject to review;
(b ) if the accused fails to comply with any other condition imposed on bail, the court may, on conviction of an offence under section 3(1)(b ) of this Act and on the motion of the prosecutor, order forfeiture of the sum deposited.
(2) A cautioner, who has deposited a sum of money in court under section 1(3) of this Act, shall be entitled to recover the sum deposited at any diet of the court at which the accused appears personally:
Provided that, where the accused has been charged with an offence under section 3(1)(b ) of this Act, nothing in this subsection shall entitle a cautioner to recover the sum deposited unless and until—
(a ) the charge is not proceeded with; or
(b ) the accused is acquitted of the charge; or
(c ) on the accused's conviction of the offence,...
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