Making a bail application in the Magistrates Court or Supreme Court is a vital step that many people get wrong. Using an inexperienced lawyer inevitably means bail is refused, and those people end up spending time in jail that they would never have to serve.

At George Criminal Lawyers, we are experienced and successful bail lawyers. We know exactly what needs to be done to secure a release from custody. It is essential that you engage our services as soon as possible to do this. We regularly appear in courts all over Queensland, and can attend any Magistrates Court or Supreme Court in Queensland to make an urgent bail application.

In Queensland, bail is a written promise to follow certain conditions while charges progress through the court. For most offences, there are usually no specific bail conditions other than the requirement to attend court. This is called bail “on your own undertaking”.

For more serious charges, or for people with a bad criminal history, bail conditions can be very strict. They might include no-contact conditions, requirements to report to police every day, conditions about where they can live, curfews, restrictions on use of mobile phones and computers, and wearing electronic ankle monitors. Sometimes, a payment of money is required (called a “surety”) to guarantee compliance with bail conditions.

After police charge someone with a criminal offence, they have to make a decision about whether to release them on bail. In some cases, the police have no choice and must refuse bail (e.g. choking offences, offences involving domestic violence, serious offences involving weapons). If you get on to us early enough, we might be able to negotiate conditions with police to ensure that they grant you bail.

If the police choose to refuse bail, they prepare a document called an “Objection to Bail” which contains a summary of the facts and their reasons why they believe bail shouldn’t be granted. Quite often, the information in this document is based on incomplete investigations, or contains opinions from police which aren’t backed up by any evidence.

The matter is then listed before a Magistrate the same day, or the next day depending on the time of arrest (between Monday and Saturday). The person is kept in the police watchhouse to await their first court appearance.

If bail is denied in the Magistrates Court, the next step is to apply for bail in the Supreme Court. A lot of work goes in to preparing these applications to ensure that the opportunity is not lost because there isn’t enough information for the Judge.

Our job is to get our clients out as soon as possible, so we prepare detailed affidavits which we fill with comprehensive evidence in order to guarantee a release from jail. We speak to partners, family and employers, and organise referrals to places such as drug rehabilitation centres. We aggressively negotiate conditions with the DPP to try and guarantee a release, and if they won’t agree, make the application before a Supreme Court Judge.