In some common law nations, a recognizance is a conditional pledge of money undertaken by a person before a court which, if the person defaults, the person or their sureties will forfeit that sum. It is an obligation of record, entered into before a court or magistrate duly authorized, whereby the party bound acknowledges (recognizes) that they owe a personal debt to the state. A recognizance is subject to a "defeasance"; that is, the obligation will be avoided if person bound does some particular act, such as appearing in court on a particular day, or keeping the peace.[1] In criminal cases the concept is used both as a form of bail when a person has been charged but not tried and also when a person has been found guilty at trial as an incentive not to commit further misconduct. The concept of a recognizance exists in Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, the Republic of Ireland, and the United States. Recognizances were frequently used by courts of quarter sessions, for example they make up more than 70% of surviving records for the Bedfordshire Quarter Sessions records.[2]
BailEdit
A recognizance is a form of bail, in which an accused is released from pre-trial detention with an incentive to ensure that they will appear before the court to face charges on a certain day in the future. A person may be required to provide sureties, being another person who will guarantee the attendance of the accused and agree to forfeit the amount if they don't. If a person is not required to provide a surety, they are released "on their own recognizance".[3] Release on recognizance is sometimes abbreviated as RoR, OR (own recognizance, particularly in the United States), or PR (personal recognizance).
A recognizance is different from a bail bond in that it is a pledge of money and no upfront payment of a cash deposit is required.[3][4] It is sometimes referred to as a "recognizance bond" or "signature bond".[5]
Historically recognizances were also used by courts of quarter sessions to require a person to attend court and give evidence.[2]
As an incentive not to commit further misconductEdit
Where a person has been found guilty at trial, a court may release the defendant on their own recognizance, as an incentive for the person not to commit further offences. In 1733 John Harper was released from Bridewell on his own recognizance.[6] They were used by courts of quarter sessions to keep the peace and for people to be of good behaviour, with the person required to attend the quarter sessions once every year until tensions had cooled.[2]
They continue to be used for this purpose in Australia, with the federal Crimes Act providing that the court can discharge the person with or without sureties, by recognizance or otherwise. The discharge can include conditions such as to be of good behaviour or to pay compensation. A recognizance release order may involve the immediate release of the person into the community or after serving a specified period of time.[7][8][9] For example the New South Wales Court of Criminal Appeal upheld the sentence imposed on John Khoo for insider trading offences that he be imprisoned for 1 year and 11 months, but be released after 14 months on entering a recognisance to be of good behaviour.[10]
^Crimes Act 1914 (Cth) s 19B Discharge of offenders without proceeding to conviction.
^Crimes Act 1914 (Cth) s 20 Conditional release of offenders after conviction.
^"Sentencing Commonwealth offenders". Sentencing Bench Book — Crimes Act 1914 (Cth). Judicial Commission of New South Wales. Retrieved 25 September 2021.
recognizance, some, common, nations, recognizance, conditional, pledge, money, undertaken, person, before, court, which, person, defaults, person, their, sureties, will, forfeit, that, obligation, record, entered, into, before, court, magistrate, duly, authori. In some common law nations a recognizance is a conditional pledge of money undertaken by a person before a court which if the person defaults the person or their sureties will forfeit that sum It is an obligation of record entered into before a court or magistrate duly authorized whereby the party bound acknowledges recognizes that they owe a personal debt to the state A recognizance is subject to a defeasance that is the obligation will be avoided if person bound does some particular act such as appearing in court on a particular day or keeping the peace 1 In criminal cases the concept is used both as a form of bail when a person has been charged but not tried and also when a person has been found guilty at trial as an incentive not to commit further misconduct The concept of a recognizance exists in Australia Canada Hong Kong the Republic of Ireland and the United States Recognizances were frequently used by courts of quarter sessions for example they make up more than 70 of surviving records for the Bedfordshire Quarter Sessions records 2 Bail EditA recognizance is a form of bail in which an accused is released from pre trial detention with an incentive to ensure that they will appear before the court to face charges on a certain day in the future A person may be required to provide sureties being another person who will guarantee the attendance of the accused and agree to forfeit the amount if they don t If a person is not required to provide a surety they are released on their own recognizance 3 Release on recognizance is sometimes abbreviated as RoR OR own recognizance particularly in the United States or PR personal recognizance A recognizance is different from a bail bond in that it is a pledge of money and no upfront payment of a cash deposit is required 3 4 It is sometimes referred to as a recognizance bond or signature bond 5 Historically recognizances were also used by courts of quarter sessions to require a person to attend court and give evidence 2 As an incentive not to commit further misconduct EditWhere a person has been found guilty at trial a court may release the defendant on their own recognizance as an incentive for the person not to commit further offences In 1733 John Harper was released from Bridewell on his own recognizance 6 They were used by courts of quarter sessions to keep the peace and for people to be of good behaviour with the person required to attend the quarter sessions once every year until tensions had cooled 2 They continue to be used for this purpose in Australia with the federal Crimes Act providing that the court can discharge the person with or without sureties by recognizance or otherwise The discharge can include conditions such as to be of good behaviour or to pay compensation A recognizance release order may involve the immediate release of the person into the community or after serving a specified period of time 7 8 9 For example the New South Wales Court of Criminal Appeal upheld the sentence imposed on John Khoo for insider trading offences that he be imprisoned for 1 year and 11 months but be released after 14 months on entering a recognisance to be of good behaviour 10 References Edit This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain Chisholm Hugh ed 1911 Recognizance Encyclopaedia Britannica Vol 22 11th ed Cambridge University Press p 958 a b c Bedfordshire Quarter Sessions Recognisances Bedford Borough Council Archived from the original on 24 April 2013 a b Devine F E 1989 Bail in Australia PDF Australian Institute of Criminology Retrieved 25 September 2021 Roulston R P 1969 Principles of Bail Proceedings of the Institute of Criminology PDF pp 18 19 What is a Signature Bond With pictures mylawquestions com 28 July 2023 Retrieved 24 August 2023 Stephen Leslie Lee Sidney eds 1890 Harper John d 1742 Dictionary of National Biography Vol 24 London Smith Elder amp Co Crimes Act 1914 Cth s 19B Discharge of offenders without proceeding to conviction Crimes Act 1914 Cth s 20 Conditional release of offenders after conviction Sentencing Commonwealth offenders Sentencing Bench Book Crimes Act 1914 Cth Judicial Commission of New South Wales Retrieved 25 September 2021 Khoo v Regina 2013 NSWCCA 323 20 December 2013 Court of Criminal Appeal NSW Australia Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Recognizance amp oldid 1172035543, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
