Bail – An agreement between an accused person or his/her sureties and the court that the accused person will attend court when required, and that should the accused person abscond, in addition to the court issuing warrants of arrest, a sum of money or property directed by the court to be deposited, will be forfeited to the court.
Bail hearing – a proceeding in which the court determines whether an accused person should be released or held in custody pending trial.
Bail Report - A social inquiry report based on information generated about the background and community ties of an accused person, and its purposes are to verify information provided to the court by the accused person, to assess the likelihood that the accused person will appear for trial, and enable the court to impose reasonable bail terms and conditions.
Bond – An undertaking, with or without sureties or security, entered into by an accused person in custody under which he or she binds him or herself to comply with the conditions of the undertaking and if in default of such compliance to pay the amount of bail or other sum fixed in the bond.
Personal Recognizance – The release of an arrested or accused person on the undertaking of such a person that he or she will appear in court as and when required.
Pretrial Detention – The confinement of arrested and accused persons in custody pending the investigation, hearing and determination of their cases.
Pretrial Detainees – Accused persons who have been formally charged and are awaiting the commencement of their trials; accused persons whose trials have begun but have yet to come to a conclusion; persons who have been convicted by a court of first instance but who have appealed against their sentences or are within the statutory limits of doing so.
Remandee – An accused person detained in a prison pending the determination of his or her case.
Security – A sum of money pledged in exchange for the release of an arrested or accused person as a guarantee of that person’s appearance for trial.
Surety – A person who undertakes to ensure that an accused person will appear court and abide by bail conditions. The surety puts up security, such as money or title to a property, which can be forfeited to the court if the accused person fails to appear in court.