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The Home Office are once again reviewing the operation of police bail, after the changes brought about under the 2017 Policing and Crime Act have raised disquiet in various quarters. From the point of view of FACT and the falsely accused, our main concern is that many of our members, after arrest, are left in ‘legal limbo’, and the changes brought about by the Act, instead of improving matters, have made the situation worse, with the police releasing people ‘under investigation’ (RUI) to unlimited time spans.
For those who are concerned about the greater use of RUI following legislative changes to the use of police pre-charge bail, there is an opportunity to have your say in response to the Government Consultation Report, from the Police Powers Unit. Here is a link to the consultation document: ‘Police Powers Pre-charge Bail – Government Consultation’
The closing date is 29th May 2020
You can respond to the questions in this consultation online at:
www.gov.uk/government/consultations/police-powerspre-charge-bail.
Alternatively, you can send in electronic copies to: pacereview@homeoffice.gov.uk;
or Alternatively, you may send paper copies to:
Pre-charge Bail Consultation Police Powers Unit, 6 Floor Fry 2 Marsham Street, SW1P 4DF
For guidance, please see below an edited version of an Example Response provided by one of our supporters, to exemplify relevant arguments. We would ask you to use this as a guide, not a cut and paste exercise. Note that in this example, Question 12: ‘Your Experiences’ is positioned ahead of the other questions. This is because the Q12 answers help to put into context the specific or brief comments in answer to earlier questions, and also relate to ‘conditions’ on bail and their link with search warrants. The particular experiences of the supporter have been removed from the Q12 section of the attached document to avoid identification, but the respondent spent over a year on pre-charge bail before being charged, tried and found not guilty on all counts. You need to put your own experiences into this section’.