Excessive bail guarantee found to violate right of freedom of the accused

The First Hall of the Civil Court declared today that the imposition of a bail guarantee which the accused could not afford was a violation of the right to freedom.

The judgment was delivered by Mr Justice Gino Camilleri following a constitutional application filed by Richard Grech, who is awaiting trial on charges of homicide.

Mr Grech in March 2004 was granted release on bail under a number of conditions, including one that stipulated that he was to live at his mother's house. He had not complied with this condition due to arguments that had arisen, and he was therefore re-arrested.

In 2007 he again applied to the Criminal Court for release on bail. In the meantime he had married and had a son. The compilation proceedings against him had been concluded and that there was therefore no danger that he would tamper with any evidence, Mr Grech pleaded.

In March last year the Criminal Court granted Mr Grech bail on condition that he pledge the sum of €50,000 or deposit this sum in the court registry. Mr Grech said that this sum was beyond his means and the court ought to have taken his income into consideration when setting the bail conditions.

He added that he lived on social benefits and that no one in his family could make good this sum on his behalf He submitted that the imposition of this bail condition was in violation of his fundamental human rights as he was still in preventive custody. Mr Justice Camilleri said that the imposition of bail conditions had to be made after all the factors of the case, including the financial means of the accused, had been taken into consideration.

In this case it did not result that the Criminal Court had heard evidence about Mr Grech's means before imposing the bail conditions. Furthermore, in this particular case there was no danger that Mr Grech would abscond. The court therefore ruled that Mr Grech's rights had been violated and it ordered his release on bail under all the conditions imposed by the Criminal Court except for the deposit or pledge of €50,000