# The Criminal Procedure Rules 2025, Rule 14.16: Notice of arrest for breach of bail

Extent: E+W

(1) This rule and rule 14.17 (Arrangements for court to receive defendant arrested for breach of bail) apply where—
(a) a defendant arrested for breach of bail must be brought before a court under section 7 of the Bail Act 1976 (Liability to arrest for absconding or breaking conditions of bail); and
(b) a police custody officer so notifies the court officer.
(2) The police custody officer must provide the court officer with—
(a) the defendant’s name and date of birth;
(b) details of—
(i) the warrant under which the defendant was arrested, or
(ii) the reasons for an arrest without a warrant;
(c) confirmation that the prosecutor has been notified;
(d) confirmation that the following have been notified and are available—
(i) any interpreter required,
(ii) the defendant’s legal representative, if any, and
(iii) any local or other authority, including any youth offending team, responsible for the defendant’s care or welfare;
(e) the police custody officer’s proposal for the means by which the defendant will be brought before the court, either by live link or in person, and—
(i) if the proposal is for the defendant to attend court by live link, details of any material circumstance listed in rule 3.35 (Live link direction: exercise of court’s powers), or
(ii) if the proposal is for the defendant to attend court in person, the identity of the authority responsible for transporting the defendant and the expected time of arrival; and
(f) details of any disability or other vulnerability of the defendant of which the police custody officer is aware and which is not apparent from other information supplied.
[Note. The court may issue a warrant for the defendant’s arrest—
(a) under section 7(1) of the Bail Act 1976 where the defendant was released on bail under a duty to surrender into the custody of the court and fails to do so when required; or
(b) under section 7(2) of the Act where the defendant was released on bail, surrenders into the custody of the court, and then leaves without the court’s permission before the hearing begins or resumes.
Under section 7(3) of the 1976 Act a defendant who has been released on bail and is under a duty to surrender into the custody of a court may be arrested and detained without a warrant by a constable—
(a) who has reasonable grounds for believing that the defendant is not likely to surrender to custody,
(b) who has reasonable grounds for believing that the defendant is likely to break any of the conditions of bail,
(c) who has reasonable grounds for suspecting that the defendant has broken any of those conditions, or
(d) where a surety for that bail notifies the constable in writing that the defendant is unlikely to surrender to custody and for that reason the surety wishes to be relieved of the obligations of a surety.
Under section 7(4) of the 1976 Act, subject to the exceptions to which rule 14.17(2) refers a defendant arrested under section 7(3) must be brought before a magistrates’ court as soon as practicable and in any event within 24 hours after the arrest, omitting any part of a day which is Christmas Day, Good Friday or a Sunday.
Under section 81(5) of the Senior Courts Act 1981 a defendant arrested under a warrant issued by the Crown Court must be brought forthwith before—
(a) the Crown Court if the defendant is charged with murder, or with murder and one or more other offences; or
(b) the Crown Court or a magistrates’ court in any other case.]

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Source: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2025/909/rule/14.16 (the official version)
Page: https://openlegislation.uk/criminal-procedure-rules-2025/rule-14.16
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives.