The ACT NPM has made a submission to the ACT Government in response to the Review of decision-making criteria in the Bail Act 1992 Discussion Paper.
Based on the OPCAT mandate, in our view, key considerations in any review of bail laws in the ACT should include reducing the high rates of remand and recidivism in the ACT and addressing the significantly high rates of incarceration of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
We welcome the ACT Government's acknowledgement that:
- the use of remand can have damaging consequences to an accused person's family, employment, housing situation and health and may increase the risk of reoffending and recidivism
- the use of remand can perpetuate overall risk to community safety by entrenching cycles of disadvantage that lead to people's interaction with the criminal justice system
- significant evidence suggests that diverting people to more appropriate supports than incarceration can disrupt cycles of disadvantage.
We submit that a key focus of this review should include ensuring pre-trial detention is only used as a last resort and measures are implemented to divert people from being remanded in custody.
This review is also an opportunity to implement the recommendation by the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody that governments, in conjunction with Aboriginal Legal Services and Police Services, consider amending bail legislation to revise any criteria which inappropriately restrict the granting of bail to Aboriginal people.
While our submission is focused on these and other priorities, we acknowledge that assessing risks and protecting victims and the broader community are critically important considerations for judges when making bail decisions.
Read the submission here.