There are, strictly speaking, no exceptional or unusual circumstances out there and,
therefore, bail pending appeal, like bail pending trial, should, after considering all
circumstances, be, and mark my words, granted or refused in the interests of justice. In so
concluding, it is not that where there are special circumstances, the court would have to
release a person on bail pending appeal. It is that where there are no special circumstances,
it might, nevertheless, be in the interests of justice to release a person on bail pending
appeal. It is also that, even if there were exceptional circumstances, the court could,
nevertheless, refuse bail. The residual is where there cannot be special circumstances. The
proposition that it is not in the interests of justice to release a person on bail because there
are no special circumstances cannot, in principle, be correct. I
First, it is because there cannot be agreement on what are and are not special
circumstances. To this uncertainty, the logical conclusion is that all depends on the facts
and circumstances of the case. The result of this is that certain innocuous circumstances
could be special on one occasion and not on another. Conversely, very debilitating
circumstances could be innocuous on one occasion and not special on · another occasion.
The net result is that they are not exceptional or unusual, after all. 