Legal Briefing for Internationals

We have added the following paragraph to the Legal Briefing for Internationals (PDF) on 28 September 2006.

Do I Need a UK "Bail Address"?

Often people with addresses outside the UK will just be released like everyone else. There was a previous blockade where they wanted all Internationals to sign Undertakings, and many chose to give a UK address on arrest so as to avoid this. If it comes to holding people for court and putting them on bail then the Helensburgh court has accepted foreign addresses but the courts sometimes refuse to bail people to a non-UK address.

If you live abroad, it would be a good idea to have a UK address you can use if you need to. It's your decision whether to give it on arrest or to make the point that you've come from abroad by giving your foreign address and hold the UK address in reserve in case you need it for bail.

If you give an address on arrest then they will try to verify it. One way they sometimes do this, with UK addresses, is to ask the local police to go round and ask if you live there, or to telephone the address if you give them a phone number. If you give a UK address, therefore, you need to check with the people who live there to make sure it's OK and that everyone who lives there knows that you live there. Any citations, etc. will get sent to that address so you need to make sure you have a system for getting them sent on to you, if you move.