Released under investigation, Ben Stokes and The Ashes
The latest Ashes series between the cricket teams of England and Australia began today. There was a noticeable absentee from the England team, Ben Stokes. You may remember that Stokes was arrested in the early hours of 25th September on suspicion of ABH. Shortly after that, CCTV allegedly showing the incident was widely circulated in the media, and two key witnesses finally came forward towards the end of October.
Released under investigation
After his arrest and interview, Stokes was ‘released under investigation’. In April 2017 legislation aimed at reforming pre-charge bail came into force. An officer of the rank of Inspector or above can authorise pre-charge bail for a maximum of 28 days. In limited circumstances, this can be extended for up to 12 months.
The stated aim of this change was ‘to stop people remaining on bail for lengthy periods without independent judicial scrutiny of its continued necessity’. In practice it has made no difference at all. Suspects are now simply released under investigation, with no idea at all when a decision is going to be made about their case. At least under the previous regime, suspects were given a bail date and there was an expectation that some progress may have been made by the time that date came around.
Delays
Stokes’ case is typical of the delays within the criminal justice system. This is, on the face of it, not a complicated case. There are very few witnesses, there is good quality CCTV footage of the incident and the suspects have been quickly identified, arrested and interviewed.
Over 8 weeks have passed since the incident. During that time Stokes, like many suspects, has been effectively suspended from work and faces uncertainty about his career. The others involved, complainants and witnesses also face uncertainty over whether they will need to go to court and give evidence.
Whether he is guilty or not, Stokes and others in his position deserve better than being held in limbo like this.
If you would like advice about a criminal case, please contact John Howey on 020 7388 1658 or jhowey@jfhlaw.co.uk
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Can I get bail in my extradition case?
Bail in an extradition case is decided in a similar way to bail in criminal cases in this country. The law is contained in the Bail Act and the Criminal Procedure Rules. However, the rules are very different to many other countries. The short answer to the question ‘can I get bail’ is yes, you can. Whether you do get bail or not will depend on a lot of things.
The offence
The District Judge is likely to be worried that if you are granted bail you might not turn up at Court. So the first thing the Judge will want to know is if you are already convicted, or if you are ‘accused’. If you are wanted to stand trial for an offence, you are ‘accused’ . An accused person has a much better chance of being granted bail than if you have been found guilty and have a sentence to serve. If you are convicted, you will be wanted to serve a sentence. The longer the sentence is, the less chance you will have of being granted bail. Even if you have not been convicted, the more serious the offence, the less likely you are to be given bail.
5 other considerations to grant a bail in extradition
Apart from the offence, the sorts of things that the District Judge will think about when deciding whether to grant you bail will include;
- How long you have been in this country
- The circumstances in which you came to this country. For example did you come to this country the day after you were arrested in your own country? Or were you never actually arrested and knew nothing about it?
- Your situation in this country; are you working? Do you have family and in particular children who depend on you? Have you got an address you have lived at for a long time? can you be given a curfew there, so the authorities know where you are at certain times of the day?
- Have you committed offences in this country, or have you shown that you can abide by the law since you got here? Having convictions in this country, or lots of convictions in your home country, can also be a problem. The District Judge might think that you will commit more offences here. It is even more difficult if you are already on bail in this country.
- Can you hand in your passport and your ID documents, so you cannot leave the country?
Can someone pay a security?
But the most important thing is whether someone can pay a security for you. This is a sum of money, the more the better, that is paid to the court. As long as the person attends court when they are supposed to, and if they are to be extradited they turn up where they are supposed to be, the money will be given back. If the person does not turn up, some or in most cases all of it will be kept by the court.
Please contact us on 0207 388 1658, or email jhowey@jfhlaw.co.uk if you wish to discuss your extradition matter with us further, or to find out whether your would be eligible for legal aid for extradition matters. You can read more about the basics of extradition here. We have a dedicated team of lawyers specialising in extradition who are here to help you.
John Howey, Senior Solicitor
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Can I get bail in an extradition case?
Bail in an extradition case is decided in a similar way to bail in criminal cases in this country. The law is contained in the Bail Act and the Criminal Procedure Rules. However, the rules are very different to many other countries. But the short answer is yes, you can get bail in an extradition case. Whether you do or not will depend on a lot of things.
How does the District Judge decide?
The District Judge is likely to be worried that if you are granted bail you might not turn up at Court. If you are wanted to stand trial for an offence, you have a much better chance of being granted bail than if you have been found guilty and have a sentence to serve. When you are wanted to serve a sentence, the longer it is the less chance you will have of being granted bail. If you have not been convicted, the more serious the offence is, the less likely you are to get bail.
Having convictions in this country, or lots of convictions in your home country, can also be a problem. The District Judge might think that you will commit more offences here. It is even more difficult if you are on bail in this country.
What else will the District Judge want to know?
Apart from the offence, the sorts of things that the Judge will think about when deciding whether to grant you bail will include;
- How long you have been in this country
- The circumstances in which you came to this country. For example, did you come to this country the day after you were arrested in your own country, or were you never actually arrested?
- Your situation in this country; are you working? Do you have family and in particular children who depend on you? Have you got an address you have lived at for a long time? Can you be given a curfew there, so the authorities know where you are at certain times of the day?
- Have you committed offences in this country? Or have you shown that you can abide by the law since you arrived here?
- Can you hand in your passport and your ID documents, so you cannot leave the country?
Security
The most important thing is whether someone can pay a security for you. You or your family pay a sum of money to the court. The more money that can be paid the better. The court keeps the money while the case is going on. If you attend court when you are supposed to, or if you are to be extradited you turn up where you are supposed to be, you will get the money back, with interest. If you do not turn up, some of the money, or usually all if it, will be kept by the court.
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