A surety plays a huge role in bail agreement as the provision of sureties may be one of the conditions to fulfil in the process of securing the release of an accused.
Section 167 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act states that a person given bail may be required to produce such surety or sureties as, in the opinion of the court, will be sufficient to ensure his appearance in court when required.
A surety is a person who undertakes to take responsibility for a person accused of a crime not to violate the terms of their bail.
In fulfilling the conditions for a bail, a surety may be required to provide security in form of money/properties known as bail bond in order to secure the temporary release of the suspect, and to guarantee that the accused will honour the terms of bail agreement by appearing in court when required, and fulfilling any other condition stipulated.
Section 165(3) of the ACJA states that the money or security deposited shall be returned to the defendant or his surety or sureties, as the case may be, at the conclusion of the trial or on an application by the surety to the court to discharge his recognizance.