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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