Home Office to review rules on bail
POLICE bail is to be reviewed by the Home Office after concerns that it is failing victims of violent offenders by releasing their attackers into communities without restrictions.
Priti Patel, the Home Secretary, said the review would look into whether the law or rules needed to be changed to ensure victims’ safety was prioritised while also ensuring suspects’ rights were respected.
It follows concerns that changes to the bail rules in 2017 have backfired, with thousands of crime suspects being released by police without any restrictions, putting victims and the public in danger.
The reforms, designed to prevent suspects spending months languishing on police bail, have also led to suspects spending even longer in limbo.
The changes placed a 28-day limit on the time police could keep a suspect on pre-charge bail, but it allowed them to release suspects as being “under investigation” without restrictions on them.
As a result, the number of suspects held on bail has plummeted from more than 10,000 in some forces to a few hundred, while thousands have been “released under investigation (RUIS)” including domestic abusers who have gone on to murder or rape their victims.
Ms Patel said: “Concerns have been raised that pre-charge bail is not consistently being used in instances where it may be necessary to effectively manage suspects and protect victims and witnesses. This review will ensure we put the needs of victims first and help the police investigate complex crimes whilst also continuing to make sure cases are able to be dealt with swiftly.”
Police officers have complained that investigations can often not be completed within 28 days, particularly with the rapid increase in digital evidence that needs to be assessed by officers. This leaves them with few options but to use RUI without placing any restrictions on a suspect.
Changes likely to be considered by the review could see officers get the ability to place conditions on suspects released under investigation or extend bail beyond 28 days.
Simon Davis, the Law Society’s president, said there was evidence of RUI being used for indictable offences such as rape and murder.
Nick Ephgrave, criminal justice lead for the National Police Chiefs’ Council, said that since the new bail rules it had become clear “a number of unintended consequences have followed, presenting fresh challenges for the police service and the wider criminal justice system.”
Jenny Wiltshire, Head of Serious and General Crime at Hickman & Rose solicitors, said the introduction of RUI had proved a “dismal failure”.
“The result is that anyone who is today accused of a crime and then released under investigation can expect to wait months – perhaps even years – before they can even begin to start clearing their names,” she said.