Lawyers are again able to seek electronically monitored (EM) bail for clients, just days after police stopped accepting applications because national capacity had been exceeded.
Members of the Otago branch of the New Zealand Law Society were yesterday told by police prosecution staff that new applications would be processed according to standard procedure.
On Monday, they were advised no new applications would be considered.
Police prosecutions service national manager Superintendent Craig Tweedie said the number of people on EM bail nationwide had recently decreased as bail terms expired.
He said police wrote to the Chief District Court Judge on December 20 seeking a cap on EM bail numbers, as a short-term initiative because police expected the number of people on EM bail to spike over the Christmas period and beyond. Supt Tweedie said yesterday the number of defendants on EM bail had decreased from the system's peak of 280.
''The current EM bail muster is standing at 253 - close to the 250 cap police were originally seeking,'' he said.
Eight people were on EM bail in Otago at present.
Supt Tweedie said police would continue to monitor and assess EM bail numbers to ensure the scheme's smooth operation.
''There has been no change to police resourcing to manage EM bail,'' he said.
The system was under review and a joint working group was considering options for the long-term management of EM bail, including whether the Department of Corrections should manage it instead of the police.
