Police bail
Police bail can be granted to someone who has been arrested, to
allow police to carry out further enquiries into the case before
making a final decision on whether or not to prosecute. The accused
will have been interviewed and as they are released from custody,
issued with a form stating when and where they must return to
answer their bail.
Police to court bail
This means that someone has been charged with an offence by the
police and released on bail with or without conditions, to appear
at court at a later date.
Conditions can be imposed by the police to people on police bail
eg not to contact a particular named person. To seek any change to
those conditions, the accused must apply in person to any custody
sergeant at the station from which they were bailed. They may or
may not be accompanied by their solicitor.
To vary any conditions the accused must either apply to the
custody of the police station from which they were bailed or apply
direct to the court to which they have been bailed.
Note: the court date cannot be changed.
Court to court bail
This means that someone made an appearance at court and has been
bailed by that court to reappear at a later date.
To vary any conditions that have been ordered, the accused must
approach the court, usually through their solicitor. The police
cannot vary conditions set by the court.