Commentary on Sections Part 1: Amendments of Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 Section 4: Bail elsewhere than at a police station
107.This Section amends section 30 of PACE to enable police officers to grant bail to persons following their arrest without the need to take them to a police station. It provides the police with additional flexibility following arrest and the scope to remain on patrol where there is no immediate need to deal with the person concerned at the station. It is intended to allow the police to plan their work more effectively by giving them new discretion to decide exactly when and where an arrested person should attend at a police station for interview.
108.Subsections (2) to (6) amend section 30 to take account of the new power to grant bail. The basic principle remains that a person arrested by a constable or taken into custody by a constable after being arrested by someone else must be taken by a constable to a police station as soon as practicable. However, this is subject to the provisions dealing with release either on bail or without bail.
109.Subsection (4) expands existing section 30(7) of PACE to provide that a constable must release the person concerned without bail if, before reaching the police station, he is satisfied that there are no grounds for keeping him under arrest or releasing him on bail under the new provisions.
110.Subsection (5) replaces existing sections 30(10) and (11) of PACE to make it clear that a constable may delay taking an arrested person to a police station or releasing him on bail if that person’s presence elsewhere is necessary for immediate investigative purposes. The reason for such delay must be recorded either on arrival at the police station or when the person is released on bail.
111.Subsection (6) adapts some existing exclusions in section 30(12) of PACE to take account of the new arrangements for granting bail.
112.Subsection (7) inserts a series of new sections into PACE which provide police officers with the framework of powers to grant bail following arrest. Section 30A provides that a constable has power to release a person on bail at any time prior to arrival at a police station. It specifies that the person released on bail must be required to attend a police station and that any police station may be specified for that purpose. No other requirement may be imposed on the person as a condition of bail.
113.Section 30B requires that the constable must give the person bailed a written notice, prior to release, setting out the offence for which he was arrested and the ground on which that arrest was made. It must tell him that he is required to attend a police station and may specify the relevant station and time. If these details are not specified in that initial notice, they must be set out in a further notice provided to the person at a later stage. Police have the capacity to change the specified station or time if necessary and the person concerned must be given written notice of any such change.
114.Section 30C contains various supplemental provisions. Section 30C(1) allows for the police to remove a requirement to attend a police station to answer bail, provided they give the person a written notice to that effect.
115.Section 30C(2) makes it clear that where someone attends a non-designated police station to answer bail following arrest he must be released or taken to a designated police station within 6 hours of his arrival. Designated stations are those nominated by chief officers as suitable for detention purposes and are generally stations with appropriate facilities to cater for extended periods of custody.
116.Section 30C(3) specifies that nothing in the Bail Act 1976 applies in relation to bail under these new arrangements. The law which applies to this form of bail is set out in PACE as amended by the Act.
117.Section 30C(4) clarifies that a person who has been released under the new bail provisions may be rearrested if new evidence justifying that has come to light since their release.
118.Section 30D deals with failure to answer to bail under the new arrangements. Section 30D(1) allows a constable to arrest without a warrant a person who fails to attend the police station at the specified time. Section 30D(2) states that a person arrested in such circumstances must be taken to a police station as soon as practicable after the arrest. Section 30D(3) defines the station relevant for the purposes of subsection (1) as whichever station is defined in the latest notice provided to the person concerned. Section 30D(4) clarifies that such an arrest for failure to answer to bail is to be treated as an arrest for an offence for certain PACE purposes.