This report presents the results of an inquiry into bail law in NSW.

In undertaking this inquiry the NSW Law Reform Commission was asked to develop a legislative framework that provides access to bail in appropriate cases having regard to:

1. whether the Bail Act should include a statement of its objects and if so, what those objects should be;

2. whether the Bail Act should include a statement of the factors to be taken into account in determining a bail application and if so, what those factors should be;

3. what presumptions should apply to bail determinations and how they should apply;

4. the available responses to a breach of bail including the legislative framework for the exercise of police and judicial discretion when responding to a breach;

5. the desirability of maintaining s22A;

6. whether the Bail Act should make a distinction between young offenders and adults and if so, what special provision should apply to young offenders;

7. whether special provisions should apply to vulnerable people including Aboriginal people and Torres Strait Islanders, cognitively impaired people and those with a mental illness. In considering this question particular attention should be given to how the latter two categories of people should be defined;

8. the terms of bail schemes operating in other jurisdictions, in particular those with a relatively low and stable remand population, such as the UK and Australian states such as Victoria, and of any reviews of those schemes; and,

9. any other related matter.