Article 37

At any time before the initial Court hearing (Article 61) a police officer may release a person arrested without a warrant solely for a Petty Offence or a Class 8 or 9 Serious Offence upon the person signing a written promise, or executing a bond, with or without guarantors, that he will appear in Court at such time as the police officer shall direct. The police officer shall not release a suspect without issuing a Notice of Appearance (Article 58).

Such bond or the guarantee therefor shall not exceed a total of 10,000 Nakfas.

The police officer shall, in making his decision on the bond, the guarantors and the amount to be guaranteed consider:

the likelihood of the arrested person’s appearance in Court at the fixed time;

the seriousness of the offence for which the person was arrested;

the danger to any person or to public safety by the release of the arrested person; and

the resources of the arrested person or his guarantors.

If the arrested person appears before the Court at the time fixed by the police officer, the Court shall order the bond and/or any guarantee undertaken by guarantors of the arrested person to be released and proceed with the procedure provided for under Article 61.

If the arrested person fails to appear before the Court at the time fixed by the police officer, the Court shall take the following measures as the case may be.

If the bond has been deposited by the arrested person, the Court shall order that the bond be forfeited.

Where there are guarantors, the Court shall summon the guarantors and they shall be required to show cause why their guarantees should not be forfeited.

If the guarantor fails to pay, within the time limit to be set by the Court, the amount guaranteed without reasonable justification, the Court may order that execution be carried out in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Civil Code and Civil Procedure Code.

The Court may reduce the amount of bail or guarantee fixed by the police officer if, in the Court’s opinion, the amount of the bond, in view of the penalty that may be imposed for the offence for which the person has been arrested or for any other reason, is excessive. The Court shall not, however, increase the amount of bail or guarantee fixed by the police officer.

The Court may make such other order with respect to the bond as the circumstances of the case may require.

If at any time before the initial Court hearing (Article 61) for a person arrested without a warrant, a police officer determines, after further inquiry, that there is no longer reasonable grounds to believe that the person committed the offence, he shall release from custody the person arrested without bond or any other precondition.