Bail Lawyers Sydney
Facing a Court Appearance or Need Assistance with Bail?
Kingston Fox Lawyers can assist in bail-related matters, including bail applications, variations of bail conditions, and appeals.
Bails, Appeals and Court Matters in New South Wales
Navigating the complexities of bail, bail applications, appeals, and court appearances should always be conducted with the support of an experienced lawyer. At Kingston Fox Lawyers, we provide timely and personalised legal advice to help each client get the support needed to successfully apply for bail or prepare for a court appearance.
Our criminal law team has more than 40 years of experience, including time as former prosecutors, in navigating the bail application system. Our tailored approach to bail related cases means that each client has a clear understanding of the strategy and options available.
We understand that facing bail related concerns in court can be extremely challenging. Contact Kingston Fox Lawyers today to discuss your case and get clarity around the available options.
Our Services in Bail Applications, Appeals, & Court Appearances
We provide strategic advice and representation across different stages of the legal and bail process, including:
Bail Applications
- Local Court Bail Applications
- Bail Variations
- Supreme Court Bail Applications
Appeals
- Conviction Appeals
- Sentence Appeals
- Appeals to the NSW Court of Criminal Appeal
Court Appearances and Inquiries
- Local Court Matters
- District Court Matters
- Supreme Court Matters
- Commissions of Inquiry, Compulsory Examinations and Inquests
Meet the Team Behind Your Defence
Applying for Bail
If you are arrested by police and charged with an offence, the police will decide whether or not you will be released on bail until your court date. The police need to consider two factors, detailed below, when deciding whether to grant bail. If the police decide not to grant bail, you will be brought before a judge as soon as practicable. This may be the same day you are arrested, or it may be the following day depending on the circumstances.
Kingston Fox Lawyers can assist you to make a release application in the Local Court. The Court will consider the same two factors as police, which are:
- Whether the offence you are charged with is a ‘show cause’ offence, and
- Whether the ‘bail concerns’ can be adequately addressed.
Show Cause
You may or may not need to “show cause” depending on the type of offence you have been charged with and whether you are already on bail or parole for another offence when you were charged. Many serious offences including drug importation, or offences involving sex, violence or firearms are “show cause” offences.
As the applicant, you will need to show cause as to why your detention in custody is not justified.
Bail concerns
After deciding whether you have been able to show cause, the court must then consider “bail concerns” which are:
- That you will attend court when you are required
- Whether or not it is likely that you will commit any serious offence if you were released on bail
- Whether or not you will endanger any person in the community and
- Whether or not you will interfere with witnesses or evidence.
If the court has no concerns or if the court thinks that the concerns can be overcome by imposing conditions on your bail, the court must give you bail.
Conditions
The court may impose conditions like:
- The place where you will live
- Reporting to police
- Not to associate with particular people
- A surety or undertaking to forfeit money
Supreme Court bail applications
If you make a release application in the Local Court and the judge decides not to grant bail, you have a right to make an application in the Supreme Court. The Court will have regard to the same factors as outlined above and may hear additional evidence to satisfy the bail concerns.
Get In Touch With Kingston Fox Lawyers
If you or a friend or family member have been arrested and refused bail, contact us immediately to discuss the options available. We can work out with you the quickest and most effective way to make a release application.
Hear it from our satisfied clients
“A difficult matter that was resolved in my favour”
“Alexandra Sarmed offered me exceptional service and professional assistance with a difficult matter that was resolved in my favour. I couldn’t have asked for any more and I would not hesitate to recommend her to anyone in future. Nor will I ever go anywhere else for legal advice myself. I know if she couldn’t help me she would steer me to the right person for the job.”
“Frank, understanding, hardworking, and knowledgeable”
“We were incredibly lucky to be referred to Alexandra Sarmed for a complex set of charges against my adult child. From the first meeting, we were struck by her sense of humanity. She supported us throughout the process with her frankness, understanding, warmth, humour, hard work and knowledge. Alexandra found an amazing Barrister and together they achieved the right outcome. We will be forever thankful to Alexandra Sarmed.”
“Sympathetic and extremely reassuring”
“Erin was wonderful at a time of extreme stress for me. She listened to me and provided professional and helpful advice. She was sympathetic and clear-thinking, expertly guiding me through a process that was foreign to me. This was extremely reassuring. I would strongly recommend Kingston Fox Lawyers to anybody needing legal representation.”
Appeals
If you have been found guilty in the Local or District Court and believe that you are not, you may have the ability to appeal the decision. If you have been sentenced and believe that the sentence is too severe, you may be able to appeal the severity of the sentence at a higher court. Kingston Fox Lawyers may assist you.
District Court Appeals
We can help you with all criminal law matters. Appeals from Local Court decisions are heard in the District Court before a District Court judge. There are two main types of appeals to the District Court:
Severity Appeals
An appeal against the severity of the sentence imposed on you in the Local Court.
Conviction Appeals
An appeal of a finding of the Local Court that you are guilty of an offence after a defended hearing. Conviction appeals can also include a severity appeal.
You can also appeal to the District Court when:
- An AVO has been made against you and you do not think it is required;
- You were disqualified from driving by the Local Court and you think the disqualification period is too long or should not have been made at all; and
- The Local Court Judge refused to annul a conviction or other order that was made by the court in your absence.
Time to lodge an appeal
An appeal to the District Court needs to be lodged within 28 days of the decision of the Local Court Judge. This means 28 calendar days – not 28 working days.
If you lodge the appeal in this time period, it usually means that any penalty the court imposed is stayed – that is, put on hold – until the appeal is heard in the District Court. If you were sentenced to a term of imprisonment in the Local Court, you can apply for bail and if it is granted, your sentence is stayed. If you do not get bail, your sentence will continue to run.
It’s possible to lodge an appeal after 28 days but 3 months have lapsed since the Judge’s decision. An appeal lodged during this time requires that leave be sought. This means that when the appeal is lodged, you must also explain why you did not lodge the appeal in the 28 day period.
It’s not possible to lodge an appeal to the District Court after the 3 month period of time.
An appeal can be lodged at any Local Court – it doesn’t have to be the court that your matter was heard at.
What happens at the appeal?
At the appeal, the police are represented in Court by a solicitor from the DPP.
Conviction appeal
At a conviction appeal, the judge will look at all of the material that was tendered as an exhibit in the Local Court. The judge will also read the transcript of the Local Court hearing. After this, submissions are usually made by the DPP solicitor and the defence. The judge then makes a decision after hearing these submissions.
Usually this means the court will not hear or look at any new evidence. If you want to rely on new evidence or a new witness, leave must be sought and submissions made about why the evidence should be called and why it was that the witness was not called in the Local Court.
Sentence appeal
At the sentence appeal, the judge will look at the Local Court papers including the statement of facts and any reports or other documents tendered in the Local Court. The judge will hear submissions from the DPP solicitor and from the defence. At a severity appeal, you are able to give evidence and hand up documents that might not have been before the Local Court.
The outcome
The judge will make a decision after looking at all of the material and hearing submissions.
In a severity appeal, it is possible that a judge might think that the sentence that was imposed in the Local Court was not severe enough. The judge must give a warning first if they are of this view. This gives you the opportunity to withdraw your appeal and the sentence of the Local Court will stand.
If you are successful in your appeal, the judge can order:
- that the conviction be set aside;
- that the penalty imposed by the Local Court be set aside and a less severe penalty be imposed; or in a conviction appeal, that you are not guilty.
Appeals to the NSW Court of Criminal Appeal
The NSW Court of Criminal Appeal (the CCA) hears appeals in regards to errors of law in criminal matters.
An appeal to the CCA is commenced by filing a Notice of Intention to Appeal, which must be done within 28 days of the decision in the District Court.
After the Notice of Intention is filed, the appellant has 12 months to file a Notice of Appeal and submissions setting out the errors of law said to have occurred in the lower court.
Once the Notice of Appeal and submissions are filed, the Court will list the matter for hearing. After the hearing, the Court often takes some time to deliver a judgment.
