Publisher's Synopsis
Bail decisions are invariably urgent. There is rarely time for detailed reasons or exhaustive canvassing of authorities, and the ex tempore judgments are usually no more than a mere application of the statute to the facts of the case. Decision-makers balance competing considerations amidst varying circumstances, and, taking different views, arrive at inconsistent decisions. The advocate inevitably has enormous influence on this decision: advocacy skills become the difference between success and failure. Professor George Hampel, formerly Justice of the Supreme Court of Victoria, and Daniel Gurvich of the Melbourne Bar, identify and address all the issues judges, magistrates and advocates in Victoria need to understand. The authors provide the means to understand the complex scheme of the Bail Act 1977 as amended, and thoroughly explain the way the principles governing bail are applied in practice. They include statements of principle from unreported Supreme Court decisions at the same time emphasising the danger of arguing from those decisions for a particular result.
