Patrol CompanionKey points
- The bail start date is the day after the day of arrest (PACE s.47ZB(4)(a)).
- Standard cases get 3 months beginning with that date. An inspector can extend to 6 months (s.47ZD) and a superintendent to 9 months (s.47ZDA). After that, it is the magistrates' court.
- Every extension has to be given before the current period ends.
- Arrest on 2 August 2026: bail start date 3 August 2026, and the last day of the first 3 months is 2 November 2026.
- FCA, HMRC, NCA and SFO cases start at 6 months and have their own extension route.
- Bail for a CPS charging decision under s.37(7)(a) does not run on the same clock (s.47ZL).
Which rules apply
The time limits are in sections 47ZA to 47ZM of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984. The current version came in with the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022. Section 45(3)(a) of that Act says the changes apply “in relation to a person arrested for an offence only if the person was arrested for the offence after the coming into force of that amendment”.
The CPS bail guidance (Annex 9) puts the date at 28 October 2022. This page covers arrests from that date. Older cases, if you still have any, used a 28 day starting period.
The bail start date
Section 47ZB(4)(a) says: “a person’s bail start date is the day after the day on which the person was arrested for the relevant offence”.
The time of the arrest does not matter. Arrest at 00:05 or 23:55 on 2 August, and the bail start date is 3 August either way. The CPS guidance puts it simply: “The bail clock starts the day after arrest”.
The first 3 months
For a standard police case, s.47ZB(1)(b) sets the applicable bail period as “the period of 3 months beginning with the person’s bail start date”.
The custody officer then sets the return date. Section 47ZA(2) says the power “must be exercised so as to appoint a time on the day on which the applicable bail period in relation to the person ends, unless subsection (3) or (4) applies”. Those exceptions are lining the date up with bail for other offences, or where the custody officer believes the charging decision will be made sooner.
Extensions by an inspector and a superintendent
Both police extensions need the decision maker to be satisfied that conditions A to D in s.47ZC are met:
- A: reasonable grounds for suspecting the person is guilty of the relevant offence.
- B: reasonable grounds for believing further investigation is needed or, if bailed for a charging decision under s.37(7)(b), that more time is needed to make it.
- C: reasonable grounds for believing the investigation, or the charging decision, is being dealt with “diligently and expeditiously”.
- D: reasonable grounds for believing that “the release on bail of the person in question is necessary and proportionate in all the circumstances”, with particular regard to any bail conditions.
| Step | Who | Ends at the end of |
|---|---|---|
| Initial period, s.47ZB(1)(b) | Custody officer, on release | 3 months beginning with the bail start date |
| First extension, s.47ZD | Inspector or above | 6 months beginning with the bail start date |
| Second extension, s.47ZDA | Superintendent or above | 9 months beginning with the bail start date |
Each extension can only be given while the current period “has not ended” (s.47ZD(1)(b) and s.47ZDA(1)(b)). Before deciding, the officer must arrange for the suspect or their legal representative to be told a decision is to be made, consider any representations, and then tell them the outcome.
Designated cases
Under s.47ZE, once a superintendent has extended to 9 months, the Director of Public Prosecutions may designate the case as “an exceptionally complex case”. An officer of the rank of commander or assistant chief constable or above can then extend to 12 months, after consulting the DPP.
Extensions by the court
Beyond the police extensions, a qualifying applicant applies to a magistrates' court. That includes a constable and a Crown Prosecutor. The court must be satisfied that conditions B to D are met. It does not consider condition A.
| Application | Standard case after a superintendent's extension | Designated case |
|---|---|---|
| First court extension, s.47ZF | To 12 months from the bail start date, or 18 months where s.47ZF(7) applies | To 18 months, or 24 months where s.47ZF(7) applies |
| Later court extensions, s.47ZG | A further 3 months each time, or 6 months where s.47ZG(8) applies | |
Section 47ZF(7) applies where the decision or investigation is unlikely to be finished unless the longer extension is given.
Under s.47ZI, applications are usually decided by a single justice on written evidence. The application must be made before the bail period ends. If it is made in time but the court cannot decide it before the end, s.47ZJ(3) treats the period as extended until it does. But under s.47ZJ(4) the court may refuse it if it would have been reasonable to apply in time for a decision before the end.
The CPS guidance draws the practical point: “In practice, s.47ZJ(4) PACE and CrimPR 14.20 taken together will mean that applications to the court should be made at least 5 business days before the expiry of the bail period.”
How to count the last day
The initial period and both police extensions are counted in months “beginning with the person’s bail start date”. A period beginning with a day includes that day. So a 3 month period that begins on 3 August ends at the end of 2 November, not 3 November.
| Worked example | Date |
|---|---|
| Arrested | 2 August 2026 |
| Bail start date (the day after arrest) | 3 August 2026 |
| Last day of the 3 month period | 2 November 2026 |
| Last day if an inspector extends to 6 months | 2 February 2027 |
| Last day if a superintendent extends to 9 months | 2 May 2027 |
Two easy mistakes: counting from the arrest date instead of the bail start date, which puts every date a day early, and counting 3 months from the bail start date to the same date in the later month, which puts every date a day late.
Use calendar months, not a fixed number of days. Three months is not 90 days.
When the clock stops
Bail for a CPS charging decision
Where a person is released on bail under s.37(7)(a) or s.37C(2)(b), s.47ZL(2) says the running of the applicable bail period “does not begin” on a first release, or “is suspended” in any other case.
If the CPS asks for more information before making its decision (a “DPP request”), the period starts or restarts on the day of the request (s.47ZL(6)). If it would end within 7 days of the request, it is extended so that it ends at the end of 7 days beginning with that day (s.47ZL(7) and (8)). Once the information is provided, the period is suspended again (s.47ZL(10)).
Time in hospital
If the person is an inpatient in hospital at any time on the day the period would end, s.47ZM(5) applies: “The running of the applicable bail period in relation to the person is to be treated as having been suspended for any day on which the patient was in hospital as an in-patient.”
Release without bail
If bail is not necessary and proportionate, the person is released without bail while the investigation continues. The CPS guidance notes that “PACE does not set time limits for these cases.”
FCA, HMRC, NCA and SFO cases
Section 47ZB(1)(a) gives these cases a longer start: “in an FCA case, HMRC case, NCA case or SFO case, the period of 6 months beginning with the person’s bail start date”. Each counts only where that agency is investigating the offence and one of its officers or staff confirms it, as s.47ZB(4) sets out.
The inspector and superintendent steps do not apply. Instead, an “appropriate decision-maker” in that agency can extend to 12 months under s.47ZDB. For HMRC and the NCA, that is an officer of a grade equivalent to superintendent or above. A court can then extend to 18 months, or 24 months where s.47ZF(7) applies.
Sources
PACE 1984 ss.47ZA to 47ZM on legislation.gov.uk. CPS bail guidance, Annex 9 (pre-charge police bail after 28 October 2022).
More from the blog
Patrol Companion app
The Bail Tracker in the app works out the bail start date and the last day of the 3, 6 and 9 month periods from the arrest date, with FCA, HMRC, NCA and SFO case types. It is part of Patrol Companion Pro and is a calculation aid: the custody record is still the record that counts.
Last checked 21 October 2026 against legislation.gov.uk and the CPS bail guidance. General information for officers, not legal advice: check the current law and your force policy.