The Act: Section by Section Part 1: Bail Section 3—Removal of restriction on bail in certain solemn cases
20.Section 3 repeals section 23D of the 1995 Act. Section 23D makes special provision in relation to certain solemn cases, which fall into two categories. The first category covers those cases where a person is accused of a violent offence, a sexual offence or a domestic abuse offence and has a previous conviction on indictment for an offence of that kind. The second category covers those cases where a person is accused of a drug trafficking offence and has a previous conviction on indictment for that offence. Section 23D provides that, in those cases, a person is to be granted bail only if there are exceptional circumstances justifying bail. The repeal of that section means that the general bail test in new section 23B(1) and (1A) will apply to those cases instead. Accordingly, in applying that test, the court may refuse bail in those cases (as in any case) if it determines that there is good reason for doing so.