Caution on bail changes
THE Law Society of Tasmania has issued a caution in its submission to the State Government’s Bail Reform Position Paper, saying an accused person was entitled to their freedom until trial because they were presumed innocent until then.
While the Justice Department has denied the Mercury’s access to public submissions made in response to its push for tougher bail laws, the Law Society’s criminal law committee yesterday sent its submission to the newspaper.
The Government is propos- ing 15 changes to Tasmania’s bail laws including a new test of “unacceptable risk” and a controversial presumption against bail in some instances.
It has also pushed back the date from which it will make good its promise to release all submissions from consultation periods on “major policy matters” from January 1 to April 1.
In its submission, the Law Society committee said any changes to the presumption in favour of bail needed to be examined with “great caution.”
“Prima facie, an accused is entitled to their freedom until trial. The cornerstone of that entitlement is the presumption of innocence,” it warns. “The position paper cites, as a reason for reform, “community expectations”.
“It further quotes the Premier saying the community and police are tired of hearing of offenders continuing to offend on bail. But the society said the position paper provided no data to support a number of the proposed changes.
It questions whether community concerns that offenders on bail reoffend are valid.
“How many people offend while on bail? Without this data, it is almost impossible to ascertain whether there is a problem or a perception of a problem.”
A government spokesman said the Government was committed to modernising Tasmania’s bail laws by providing a clear statutory framework with a primary focus on ensur- ing community safety from high-risk offenders.
“The Government will consider the feedback received to its position paper and release a draft Bill for consultation in due course,” he said.
The Law Society submission said there was no mention in the Government’s position paper of the Tasmanian Law Reform Institute report which came to the conclusion that the benefits of granting bail and maintaining the presumption of it, outweighed the possible gains of imposing changes introduced in some other states.
“The committee is not opposed to there being included a general presumption in favour of bail, capable of being displaced if the court finds an accused is an unacceptable risk.”
The Law Society recommended the Government should, if it is determined to make bail reforms, start from scratch with a new Bail Act.
The society’s criminal law committee said it had reservations about allowing the attitude of an alleged victim to be considered when granting bail and was opposed to taking away the current right to appeal to the Supreme Court.