§ 33. Mr. John Morrisasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will introduce legislation to amend the Bail Act so that magistrates may not take into account the provisions of the Employment Acts when setting conditions for bail.
§ Mr. MellorWe see no need for such legislation. The Bail Act 1976 does not allow the courts to have regard to possible infringements of the law which would amount only to a civil wrong; but, in imposing conditions for the purpose of securing that a defendant does not commit a criminal offence while on bail, they may properly require him to avoid situations in which they consider there would be a risk of his commiting such an offence.