An Act to amend the Bail Act 2013 to make further provision for bail decisions.
This Act is the Bail Amendment Act 2014.
This Act commences on a day or days to be appointed by proclamation.
Insert after the long title:
The Parliament of New South Wales, in enacting this Act, has regard to the following:
(a) the need to ensure the safety of victims of crime, individuals and the community,
(b) the need to ensure the integrity of the justice system,
(c) the common law presumption of innocence and the general right to be at liberty.
Omit section 3 (2).
Insert in alphabetical order in section 4 (1):
Omit “section 17”. Insert instead “section 19”.
Omit the section. Insert instead:
The flow charts illustrate the key features of bail decisions under this Act.
Flow Chart 1 illustrates the show cause requirement (set out in Division 1A), which applies only to show cause offences.
Flow Chart 2 illustrates the unacceptable risk test (set out in Division 2) as it applies to all offences, other than offences for which there is a right to release.
In the flow charts:
(a) to release a person without bail, or
(b) to dispense with bail, or
(c) to grant bail without the imposition of bail conditions.
Insert after Division 1:
A bail authority making a bail decision for a show cause offence must refuse bail unless the accused person shows cause why his or her detention is not justified.
If the accused person does show cause why his or her detention is not justified, the bail authority must make a bail decision in accordance with Division 2 (Unacceptable risk test—all offences).
This section does not apply if the accused person was under the age of 18 years at the time of the offence.
For the purposes of this Act, each of the following offences is a
(a) an offence that is punishable by imprisonment for life,
(b) a serious indictable offence that involves:
(i) sexual intercourse with a person under the age of 16 years by a person who is of or above the age of 18 years, or
(ii) the infliction of actual…