Bell CJ issues statement re bail

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• NSW Chief Justice Andrew Bell issues rare statement on growing number of people on remand - ABC News
   

  • Statement on Bail by Chief Justice of New South Wales

    In the Supreme Court of New South Wales in 2024, the 21 judges of the Common Law Division dealt with over 3100 bail applications, there having been a sharp increase in bail applications in recent years. Those same judges also hear serious criminal trials, sit on the Court of Criminal Appeal and deal with high risk offender applications. They also hear civil matters such as claims for personal injury, professional negligence, possession of property and compensation for institutional sexual abuse. In the Local Court of New South Wales, the State’s 150 magistrates determined almost 40,000 bail applications last year.

    ….

    Holding a person in prison on remand for several years also carries a significant financial cost to the community (an annual average of over $105,850 per accused person on remand in NSW, according to the Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research), equating to over $600 million per year for prisoners held on remand. It also carries an irremediable cost to the not insignificant number of accused persons held on remand but who are either not subsequently convicted or, if convicted, who are sentenced for a shorter period than they have been held on remand, or those who would have otherwise been given a sentence to be served in the community (a community correction order) as opposed to a sentence of imprisonment.
     

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