Securing of a bail for a suspect or a

Bail is the temporary release of a suspect from police custody pending further investigations or court appearance.

A lot of Ghanaians believe that there is a charge associated with securing bail for a suspect.

However, bail by law is free and must be devoid of all fees and charges.

Ideally, a suspect is interviewed by an investigator who spells out his rights and takes a caution statement. In detention, the suspect is also made to see a senior officer who further reviews his case. Under the 1992 Ghana Constitution, Article 14(3), the police can only hold the suspect for 48 hours, within which time it either has to charge the suspect and send him to court or allow the suspect to be bailed.

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The Rights of Arrested Persons which include the right to bail are essentially protected under Chapter Five, Article 14 of the 1992 Constitution of Ghana and Section 96 of the 1960 Criminal Code of Ghana.

A bail can be obtained through the Courts or the Police known as Police enquiry bail. The police and the courts can also grant self recognizance bail to suspects.

The granting of court bail is done at the discretion of the courts subject to the Criminal Procedure Code. However, for some offences bail cannot be granted by the courts. Section 96 (7) of the Criminal Procedure Code states that “a court shall refuse to grant bail in a case of treason, murder, subversion, robbery, hijacking, piracy, rape and defilement or escape from unlawful custody".

Another issue a lot of people face in their quest to secure bails is the difficulty to find people who are prepared and qualified to stand as surety for them.

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This raises the question of who qualifies to stand surety for a bail.

A surety is a person who promises to ensure that an accused person goes to court on time and on the right dates for trial and report at the police station when needed.

It is the duty of the surety to ensure that the suspect complies with the terms of his bail by either reporting at the police station in the case of a police enquiry bail or appearing in court if it is a court bail.

In the event that the suspect absconds, it is the duty of the surety to produce him. Our criminal procedure provides for any Ghanaian, irrespective of sex to stand surety for a bail provided they can meet the terms thereof