(1) A judge may, in
accordance with this Act —
(a)
exercise a power to grant bail which is conferred upon any other judicial
officer or any authorised officer by this Act; and
(b)
revoke or vary any bail previously granted by any other such officer; and
(c)
under section 7A dispense with the requirement for bail or revoke an existing
dispensation.
(2) Subject to
subsection (2a), the jurisdiction of a judge under subsection (1) in respect
of an appearance by an accused may be invoked by application made by either
the prosecutor or the accused, and whether or not any other judicial officer
has —
(a)
previously granted, refused or dispensed with bail; or
(b)
exercised any power conferred on him by section 55,
in respect of that
appearance.
(2a) After the
jurisdiction under subsection (1) has been invoked once by an accused in
relation to an offence or group of offences for which he is required to
appear, it may not be further invoked by that accused in relation to that
offence or group of offences unless the accused satisfies a judge that —
(a) new
facts have been discovered, new circumstances have arisen or the circumstances
have changed since the occasion when the jurisdiction was invoked; or
(b) he
failed to adequately present his case for bail on that occasion.
(3) Where under
subsection (1) a judge —
(a)
revokes the bail of an accused who is at liberty, he may order that the
accused be returned to custody to await the appearance for which the bail was
granted;
(b)
varies the bail of such an accused, he may order that the accused be returned
to custody until he becomes entitled to be at liberty pursuant to section 11,
and the judge may
issue any warrant which may be necessary to carry such an order into effect.
(4) In this section
—
(a)
references to a judge are references —
(i)
in the case of a child charged with an offence before the
Children’s Court, to a judge of that Court; and
(ii)
in the case of an accused committed for trial or sentence
to the District Court, to a judge of that Court; and
(iii)
in any other case, to a judge of the Supreme Court;
and
(b)
references to any other judicial officer —
(i)
in relation to the exercise of powers under this section
by a judge, are references to any judicial officer whose jurisdiction is
inferior to that of the judge; but
(ii)
in relation to the exercise of powers under this section
by a judge of the Supreme Court, do not include a judge of the
Children’s Court or a judge of the District Court.
[Section 14 amended:
No. 74 of 1984 s. 8; No. 49 of 1988 s. 82; No. 84 of 2004 s. 82; No. 6 of 2008
s. 15(1)-(4).]