E-bracelets to ease bail restrictions

E-bracelets to ease bail restrictions

One-fifth of inmates fail to pay or get bail

Five major courts are championing a plan to issue e-bracelets to more inmates awaiting trial, widening the chances for bail. (File photo)
Five major courts are championing a plan to issue e-bracelets to more inmates awaiting trial, widening the chances for bail. (File photo)

Of more than 280,000 people locked behind bars, one-fifth of them, or almost 60,000, are there not because they have been found guilty but because they are standing or awaiting trial -- and have either been denied or cannot pay bail.

Starting from Feb 1, some of them will be put through a risk assessment system that is expected to help judges decide which defendants should be released without having to pledge bail.

Electronic monitoring (EM) devices, such as an EM bracelet will be used to track them after their release.

The system will be applied on a trial basis at five courts and in cases which carry penalties of no more than five years.

The courts taking part are the Criminal Court of Southern Bangkok, Chanthaburi Court, Nakhon Si Thammarat Court, the Kalasin Court and Chiang Mai Court.

Athikhom Inthuputhi, secretary-general of the Office of the Judiciary's secretary-general, said the risk assessment system hopes to reduce discrepancies in the justice system.

Mr Athikhom said the bail rejection rate by the lower court is low.

Last year, a total of 213,537 people applied for bail of whom 201,149 were granted it.

In 2015, a total of 231,568 people sought bail of whom 217,214 were granted it.

Quoting the Corrections Department's figures as of Jan 1 this year, he said a total of 59,070 people who are sitting in jail are either awaiting trial or standing trial. This accounts for 20.2% of the jail population.

He said it is believed many of them are locked up because they cannot afford bail, whereas well-to-do defendants are often released with ease.

Under the move, suspects or defendants in cases with penalties of no more than five years will be run through the risk assessment system and the findings will be submitted to the court for consideration. Low-risk suspects will be released without the need for bail.

Suebpong Sripongkul, spokesman for the Office of the Judiciary, said suspects will be put into one of five categories of risk: extremely high, high, medium, low, and extremely low.

Criteria for the assessment are past criminal records, chances of committing another crime, chances of posing threat to public safety, chances of tampering with evidence and witnesses, and personal information. The prosecution and witnesses can lodge an objection.

He said those with high risk might be released with a requirement that they wear electronic monitoring (EM) devices, particularly a bracelet, or carry smartphones with a tracking system.

Mukmethin Klannurak, a judge, said the five courts have been selected because they offer a diverse range of cases.

If all goes well, the risk assessment system will be expanded to other courts and applied to other cases. The system will be used on an experimental basis of between one to three years.

Mr Mukmethin said the findings will be reviewed to help improve or refine the criteria to ensure a more accurate assessment and help prevent release of those who pose threats to public safety.

He said the government will spend less on inmates despite certain costs incurred from the use of the risk assessment system, noting overall state spending on inmates is likely to be cut by 10%.

Thanyanut Tantikul, another judge, however, said state agencies in the justice system should be able to gain access to each other's case files to enhance use of the risk assessment system.

Meanwhile, Bancha Poramisanaporn, a member of the National Reform Steering Assembly, suggested a court regulation be issued to allow video conferencing to relay the result of a hearing instantly to a defendant in their cell rather than having them wait up to two months before they appear in court for the result.

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