The Supreme Court has sent two bail applications back to the High Court after finding that the judge who granted bail erred in law by concluding he could not set an independent surety.
The appeals concerned Li Jiuan Choong and Ching Ann Low, who were charged under misuse of drugs legislation after a Garda search at a business premises and adjoining living quarters in Ballybofey, Co Donegal. The judgment said cannabis plants valued at €242,000 were found in accommodation adjoining the living premises. The applicants were on or outside the premises during the search.
Letterkenny District Court refused bail on 23 January 2014, finding that the applicants would not attend court to answer the charges. On appeal, the High Court granted bail on each applicant’s own bond of €100, with no lodgement, and imposed conditions including daily reporting, a curfew, residence at an address approved by Gardaí, surrender of travel documents and attendance at each remand. Ching Ann Low was also required to carry a mobile phone and remain available on it.
The High Court judge accepted that the applicants were flight risks. As recorded in an agreed note, he said he had heard they had no money or connections to the jurisdiction and that any independent surety he set would be arbitrary. He referred to the Supreme Court’s earlier decision in The People (DPP) v Bell, which rejected a fixed policy for calculating bail in drug cases.
The Supreme Court held that Bell did not prevent a judge from setting an appropriate and reasonable surety after considering the circumstances of an individual case. It said bail must be assessed with regard to matters including an accused person’s means, the nature and gravity of the offence, and the risk of failing to appear. A judge must not use an arbitrary fixed percentage of the value of drugs, but may set a surety based on the relevant circumstances.
The Court allowed the DPP’s appeals and remitted the matter to the High Court for a hearing of the bail applications in accordance with law. It did not itself decide what bail or surety should be imposed at that hearing.