The Bail Act 1976 provides the statutory framework that applies when a criminal court is deciding whether to grant a defendant bail or instead remand them in custody.
	Section 4 of the Bail Act 1976 provides that the court must grant bail to most unconvicted defendants and convicted defendants where the court is adjourning in order to obtain reports, unless one of the applicable exceptions to bail in Schedule 1 applies. Part 1 of Schedule 1 to the Act lists the exceptions to bail that apply to a defendant charged with an either-way or indictable only offence; part 1A lists the exceptions that apply to a defendant charged with summary-only offences punishable with imprisonment; and part 2 lists the exceptions that apply where a defendant is charged with a non-imprisonable offence.
	The Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 amended the Bail Act 1976 to introduce the "no real prospect" test. This provides that, for unconvicted adult defendants, fewer exceptions to the right to bail in Schedule 1 to the Act apply where it appears to the court that there is no real prospect that the defendant will be sentenced to a custodial sentence.
	This Act amends the "no real prospect" test so that it now only applies where it appears to the court that there is no real prospect that the defendant will receive a sentence of immediate custody. The test is also amended so that it applies to convicted unsentenced defendants.
Legal background Part 3: Bail "No real prospect" test