Bail is sometimes a life and death decision, writes Greg Davies
CREATING a “night court” bail service and launching an immediate Bail Act review is encouraging because bail is sometimes a life and death decision, writes Greg Davies.
Opinion
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THE horrors of Friday’s tragedy made most of us feel overwhelming sadness for the innocent victims involved.
Those victims will possibly number in the thousands. Every person who lost their life, who was maimed or injured, their families, friends and associates, the people who saw the outrage unfold; all may suffer lifelong trauma.
Why? How could this happen? The answers to those questions will have to wait for an inquest into the circumstances by the State Coroner.
There has been criticism levelled at bail justices, at police and at our legislation.
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In relation to police pursuits, one prominent radio commentator said: “The pendulum has swung too far.” The tactical policing employed on the day will, doubtless, form a major part of what the coroner examines and no complete picture will emerge in the public arena until that occurs.
The same can be said for any coronial recommendations on bail and the range of issues that were involved in this tragedy. It is fair to say is that for two or three decades bail has been one of the genuine sore points for police.
Arresting someone for, often, a number of serious crimes and seeing them released, again and again on bail, is one of the most frustrating aspects of policing.
From my perspective, the most infuriating aspect is the impact on victims of crime, who should never have become victims.
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The public provides the funds for their police, their courts and their corrections department. Every aspect of the law and order/justice system is paid for by the tax payer including, often, defence counsel for an accused.
The public are entitled to the best possible levels of protection from their law and order/justice system, so they can go about their lawful business without fear of being murdered, bashed, raped or waking in the middle of the night to find burglars in their bedroom.
There is no doubt that our bail laws need to be recast in a modern light. The Bail Act passed through our parliament in 1977 and a great deal has changed since then. The effectiveness of a foreign national surrendering his or her passport in order to be granted bail ended when Puneet Puneet left Australia using a friend’s passport.
The idea of having to report to a police station three times a week was probably fine when it took a week to get out of the colony but, today, a 72-hour head start on police means an absconder can be anywhere in the world by the time they are missed.
To refuse bail a court must hold the view that there is an “unacceptable risk” that a person: might not appear in court; might commit further offences; endanger the safety or welfare of members of the public; or might interfere with witnesses, while on bail.
Yet something you might deem to be an “unacceptable risk” could be considered perfectly acceptable by the next person, with each genuinely believing they are correct.
Clearly, the protection of the community needs to be paramount, while the rights of an accused are preserved. To work properly every system needs to be balanced, but the rights of the community, to protection from its law and order/justice system, must now be elevated.
I am encouraged by Monday’s statements from the Premier and the Attorney-General, to create a “night court” bail service and to launch an immediate review of the Bail Act.
I applaud the appointment of His Honour Justice Paul Coghlan QC to conduct the review and look forward to providing him with a submission on behalf of victims of crime.
Because, sadly, bail is sometimes a life and death decision.
Greg Davies is Victoria’s Victims of Crimes Commissioner
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