Police (Detention and Bail) Bill PDF Download

Author: Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780215558350
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 4

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Book Description
The Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (PACE) places a limit of 96 hours on the period someone may be detained by the police before they have to be either charged or released. Since the provisions of PACE came into force on 1 January 1986, the police have operated the detention provisions on the basis that only the time spent in police detention counts towards the application of the 96-hour limit and that the 'detention clock' is paused when an individual is released on police bail. This interpretation of the way the detention provisions of PACE operated was challenged in the case of Paul Hookway who was arrested by Greater Manchester Police in November 2010 on suspicion of murder and subsequently bailed. On 5 April 2011, a District Judge refused a routine application by Greater Manchester Police for a warrant of further detention of Mr Hookway on the grounds that the maximum detention limit had expired while the suspect was on bail. In effect, the District Judge held that time spent on police bail counted towards the 96-hour limit on detention under PACE. The decision of the District Judge was upheld by the High Court on 19 May 2011. The Government announced on 30 June that in view of the serious impact of the judgment on the police's ability to investigate crime and protect the public, it intended to bring forward fast-track legislation to reverse the effects of the judgment. This Bill is the fast-track legislation.