Vic Coalition to act on bail abuses

• Strong and effective laws to protect Victorians from violent criminals who offend while on bail
• New penalties for offending while on bail and breaching bail conditions
• Bail conditions and electronic monitoring to protect the community
• An end to bail shopping

A Victorian Coalition Government will protect Victorians from violent and dangerous criminals by reforming bail laws to end abuses that have grown unchecked under John Brumby, Victorian Liberal Nationals Coalition Leader Ted Baillieu said today.

“Under John Brumby, many serious offenders who are charged and released on bail go straight back to re-offending once they are released,” Mr Baillieu said.

“Bail is supposed to allow those arrested and charged with a crime to be released until their trial unless there is a serious risk to the community or a serious risk that they will flee.

“But under John Brumby, all too often offenders are released on bail and then commit a string of burglaries, drug deals or other crimes before coming to trial.

“John Brumby has failed to provide an effective deterrent against re-offending while on bail or against other bail breaches, and Labor’s own Law Reform Commission has found that police, courts and bail justices are often left in the dark about an offender’s prior bail breaches.

“Criminals who show contempt for our legal system must be held to account,” Mr Baillieu said.

The Coalition’s plan includes:

Tougher penalties for those who re-offend while on bail

Criminals who commit crimes while on bail not only break the law, they also mock the bail system itself and breach the community’s trust.

Under the Coalition’s plan, a person on bail who commits an indictable offence or offences (i.e. a more serious offence usually carrying a maximum penalty of more than two years in jail, such as assault causing injury, theft, burglary, or possessing or trafficking in drugs) will be liable to an additional penalty of up to three months in jail for offending while on bail.

This penalty will apply for each indictable offence committed while on bail, on top of the penalty for the offence itself.

Under a Baillieu Government the bottom line will be that if you re-offend while on bail, you can be locked up for longer.

Clearer and stronger bail conditions, including electronic monitoring

Victoria’s bail laws need to be clearer and stronger so offenders released on bail are adequately monitored and the community is protected from those breaching bail conditions.

A Coalition Government will strengthen the bail regime by setting out in legislation the details of a range of restrictions that an alleged offender can be required to agree to if released on bail.

These restrictions will include curfews and no-go zones, as well as the wearing of electronic monitoring devices if required by a court. Initially existing monitoring technology will be used, where a base unit installed in the offender’s house alerts authorities if a curfew is breached, but the system will also be able to utilise Global Positioning System tracking if it is introduced in the future.

Under John Brumby, if someone breaches a bail condition, they face no additional penalty and go unpunished for their contempt of the bail system – they will only be brought before a bail justice or magistrate to have their bail reviewed. A Coalition Government will make it an offence to breach bail conditions imposed to protect the community or prevent absconding, such as curfews, no-go zones, staying away from victims or witnesses or reporting to police.

Penalties will include jail for serious breaches, such as deliberately going into no-go zones to intimidate victims or witnesses.

Making sure police, bail justices and courts know the prior history of bail applicants

The Coalition’s new penalties for breaching bail and re-offending while on bail will not only deter further crime, they will also ensure that police, bail justices and courts have a clear record of an applicant’s past history when bail is sought.

This will stop criminals getting bail simply because the authorities are in the dark about any past history of breaching or re-offending while on bail.

As well, a Coalition Government will act to end ‘bail shopping’, where offenders make repeat applications for bail seeking a ‘soft’ magistrate – or a magistrate unaware of key facts – who will let them out.

A Coalition Government will ensure that adequate records of previous bail applications are maintained and made available to judges, magistrates and bail justices receiving bail applications and that police and/or prosecutors are given adequate notice of applications to obtain bail or vary bail conditions.

An end to bail shopping

This will help prevent offenders “bail shopping” amongst different magistrates or judges, obtaining their release and then committing serious crimes once they are back out in the community on bail, as has often occurred in recent years in Victoria.

“The Coalition’s plan for strong and effective bail laws will further improve Victoria’s justice system alongside other reforms previously announced by the Coalition, such as the two year ban on violent drunks entering licensed premises, the abolition of suspended sentences for all crimes, outlawing criminal bikie gangs and abolishing home detention,” Mr Baillieu said.