Guarantor
A guarantor of bail is usually referred to as a surety. A surety is a person who guarantees to the Court that the accused person will appear on bail. A surety enters into an agreement with the Court to forfeit money if the person on bail does not attend Court. If the court case is adjourned the agreement will normally continue to apply. Being a surety for somebody is a very serious responsibility. Read this fact sheet carefully and seek more information from court staff if you need it, before agreeing to be a surety.

What is bail?

Bail is an agreement to attend court at a later date to answer a criminal charge. The Court may require an accused person to agree to meet certain conditions before being released on bail. These conditions can include surrendering a passport, agreeing to report to police on a regular basis or depositing a sum of money and agreeing to forfeit it if bail is breached.

Sometimes the court may require a person, such as a friend or relative to act as a surety to agree to lodge money or agree to forfeit a certain amount if the accused fails to attend Court.

What is your responsibility as a surety?

A surety guarantees that the defendant will attend her or his court hearing. You should not agree to be a surety unless you are sure that the accused person will attend for their court appearance on each occasion until the matter is finalised.

As a surety, the court will ask you to promise to pay money if the defendant does not attend court on any occasion. Sometimes you will be asked to deposit cash. Sometimes it will be security like property. Or it could simply be an agreement to pay money. If it is an agreement to pay, the court staff may ask you to prove you can pay that money if the defendant fails to appear, and you may asked to produce documents like your bank book or a bank statement.

If you believe that it is likely that the accused person will not attend Court as required by the bail undertaking you may make an application to the Court to be discharged as a surety. The Court will normally only consider this application once the accused person has been brought before Court. Your obligations as a surety will continue until an order is made by the court that cancels your surety undertaking. If you are discharged from being a surety, the Court may either impose further conditions on the accused or order that he or she remain in custody until the next court appearance.

Who can be a surety?

You will required to complete a questionnaire

To be a surety you need to:

· be in a position to, and have the capacity to, monitor the defendant to ensure that they will attend Court
· be able to prove your identity and residential address
· be over 18 years of age
· be able to provide details of how long you have known the defendant and describe your relationship
· have savings and possessions that are worth more than the security required in the bail undertaking and be able to prove their ownership of the security
· be of good character (if you have committed serious criminal offences or committed crimes involving dishonesty you may not be an acceptable person)

When you apply to be a surety you will be required to complete a questionnaire providing information to show that you are an acceptable person and that you have appropriate financial resources to meet the bail conditions. To obtain an acceptable person application form click here.

What happens if the accused does not attend court?

If the defendant does not turn up at court on any occasion, the court may make an order that the cash or security which you have either lodged or agreed to pay be forfeited. If the Court makes this order a notice will be sent to you by the Court Registry. You may lodge an objection with the Court against the forfeiture order within 28 days of receiving the notice of forfeiture order.