Untitled document

Bail Amendment Act 2013

No. 44 of 2013

table of provisions

Section  Page

Part 1—Preliminary

1Purpose

2Commencement

Part 2—Amendments to the Bail Act 1977

3Definitions

4Conditions of bail

5Further application for bail where bail refused or revoked

6Applications to Supreme Court or County Court other than
under Bail Act

7New section 18AK inserted

18AKNotice of application to be given to informant and
either DPP or prosecutor

8New sections 30A and 30B inserted

30AOffence to contravene certain conduct conditions

30BOffence to commit indictable offence whilst on bail

9New section 32A inserted

32AInfringement notices and infringement penalties

10Transitional provisions

Part 3—General

11Repeal of amending Act

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Endnotes

Bail Amendment Act 2013

No. 44 of 2013

[Assented to 27 August 2013]

The Parliament of Victoria enacts:

Part 1—Preliminary

1Purpose

The purpose of this Act is to amend the Bail Act 1977 in relation to bail conditions and various other matters relating to bail.

2Commencement

(1)Subject to subsection (2), this Act comes into operation on a day or days to be proclaimed.

(2)If a provision of this Act does not come into operation before 1 January 2014, it comes into operation on that day.

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Part 2—Amendments to the Bail Act 1977

3Definitions

In section 3 of the Bail Act 1977 insert the following definitions—

"bail support service means a service provided to assist an accused to comply with his or her bail undertaking (whether or not that type of service is also provided to persons other than an accused on bail) including, but not limited to—

(a)bail support programs;

(b)medical treatment;

(c)counselling services or treatment services for substance abuse or other behaviour which may lead to commission of offences;

(d)counselling, treatment, support or assistance services for one or more of the following—

(i)a mental illness;

(ii)an intellectual disability;

(iii)an acquired brain injury;

(iv)autism spectrum disorder;

(v)a neurological impairment, including, but not limited to, dementia;

(e)services to help resolve homelessness;

conduct condition means a condition of bail imposed under section 5(2A);".

4Conditions of bail

After section 5(2) of the Bail Act 1977 insert—

"(2A)Without limiting subsection (2), a court may impose all or any of the following conditions about the conduct of an accused—

(a)reporting to a police station;

(b)residing at a particular address;

(c)subject to subsection (2B), a curfew imposing times at which the accused must be at his or her place of residence;

(d)that the accused is not to contact specified persons or classes of person;

Example

Witnesses, alleged victims or co-accused.

(e)surrender of the accused's passport;

(f)geographical exclusion zones, being places or areas the accused must not visit or may only visit at specified times;

Example

Not attending a gaming venue, a venue that sells alcohol or a point of international departure.

(g)attendance and participation in a bail support service;

(h)that the accused not drive a motor vehicle or carry passengers when driving a motor vehicle;

(i)that the accused not consume alcohol or use a drug of dependence within the meaning of the Drugs, Poisons and Controlled Substances Act 1981 without lawful authorisation under that Act;

(j)that the accused comply with any existing intervention orders;

(k)any other condition that the court considers appropriate to impose in relation to the conduct of the accused.

(2B)If a court imposes a curfew on an accused as a conduct condition, the period of curfew imposed must not exceed 12 hours within a 24 hour period.".

5Further application for bail where bail refused or revoked

After section 18(3) of the Bail Act 1977 insert—

"(4)Without limiting subsection (3), if it is reasonably practicable to do so, an application under this section is to be heard by a court constituted by the same judge or magistrate who heard the previous application for bail.".

6Applications to Supreme Court or County Court other than under Bail Act

After section 18AH(2) of the Bail Act 1977 insert—

"(3)Section 18AK applies to the following applications to the Supreme Court or the County Court made other than under this Act by an accused—

(a)a further application for bail;

(b)an application for variation of the amount of bail or the conditions of bail.".

7New section 18AK inserted

After section 18AJ of the Bail Act 1977 insert—

18AKNotice of application" to be given to informant and either DPP or prosecutor

(1)Subject to subsections (2) and (3), an accused must give notice in the prescribed form of an application under section 18 or an application under section 18AC to—

(a)the informant; and

(b)the Director of Public Prosecutions or the prosecutor, as the case requires.

(2)Notice under subsection (1) must be given at least 3 days before the hearing of the application unless—

(a)the court is satisfied that—

(i)the circumstances of the case justify the application being heard sooner; and

(ii)the court will be able to hear and determine the matter adequately despite the limited notice or lack of notice to other parties; or

(b)all the parties agree that the period of 3 days be waived.

(3)Notice under subsection (1) may be dispensed with by the court in the circumstances referred to in subsection (2)(a).".

8New sections 30A and 30B inserted

After section 30 of the Bail Act 1977 insert—

30AOffence to contravene certain conduct conditions"

(1)Subject to subsection (2), an accused on bail in respect of whom any conduct condition is imposed must not, without reasonable excuse, contravene any conduct condition imposed on him or her.

Penalty:30 penalty units or 3 months imprisonment.

(2)Subsection (1) does not apply to contravention of a conduct condition requiring the accused to attend and participate in bail support services.

30BOffence to commit indictable offence whilst on bail

An accused on bail must not commit an indictable offence whilst on bail.

Penalty:30 penalty units or 3 months imprisonment.

Note

See sections 16 and 33 of the Sentencing Act 1991 and sections 411 and 413 of the Children, Youth and Families Act 2005.".

9New section 32A inserted

After section 32 of the Bail Act 1977 insert—

32AInfringement notices and infringement penalties"

(1)A member of the police force may serve an infringement notice on a person who the member of the police force has reason to believe has committed an offence against section 30A.

(2)An authorised officer within the meaning of the Fisheries Act 1995 may serve an infringement notice on a person who the authorised officer has reason to believe has committed an offence against section 30A while on bail in relation to an offence against the Fisheries Act 1995 or an associated offence within the meaning of section 98 of that Act.

(3)An offence referred to in subsection (1) or (2) for which an infringement notice may be served is an infringement offence within the meaning of the Infringements Act 2006.

(4)The infringement penalty for an offence against section 30A is 1 penalty unit.".

10Transitional provisions

After section 34(7) of the Bail Act 1977 insert—

"(8)Section 18(4) applies in respect of any application made on or after the commencement of section 5 of the Bail Amendment Act 2013.

(9)Section 18AK applies in respect of any application made on or after the commencement of section 7 of the Bail Amendment Act 2013.

(10)Section 30A applies in respect of an offence alleged to have been committed on or after the commencement of section 8 of the Bail Amendment Act 2013.

(11)Section 30B applies in respect of an offence alleged to have been committed on or after the commencement of section 8 of the Bail Amendment Act 2013.

(12)For the purposes of subsections (10) and (11), if an offence is alleged to have been committed between two dates, one before and one on or after the commencement of section 8 of the Bail Amendment Act 2013, the offence is alleged to have been committed before that commencement.".

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Part 3—General

11Repeal of amending Act

This Act is repealed on 1 January 2015.

Note

The repeal of this Act does not affect the continuing operation of the amendments made by it (see section 15(1) of the Interpretation of Legislation Act 1984).

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Endnotes

Minister's second reading speech—

Legislative Assembly: 17 April 2013

Legislative Council: 20 June 2013

The long title for the Bill for this Act was "A Bill for an Act to amend the Bail Act 1977 in relation to bail conditions and to make various other amendments relating to bail and for other purposes."