Bail

The single load-bearing fix is the murder-bail mechanism: under s.115 Coroners and Justice Act 2009 magistrates have NO power to grant OR refuse bail for murder — they must commit the question to the Crown Court, which decides within 48 hours. The original note's "Crown Court judge, not magistrates" understated this, and the "Common traps" line "bail only if no significant risk of physical harm" misstated the test (that phrasing belongs to the Sch.1 para 6ZA risk-of-harm condition, not the s.115 decision-maker rule). Everything else in the note (s.4 right, s.25 exceptional circumstances, Sch.1 grounds, s.3 conditions, s.81 SCA 1981 defence appeal, s.1 Bail (Amendment) Act 1993 prosecution appeal with oral-then-2-hours-written notice, two-applications rule) is accurate to 2026.