What does it mean that I can’t contact or approach someone?
If your bail form says you can’t contact someone, then you must not contact them. Any contact with them means you are breaking your bail conditions and you could be arrested, fined or sent to prison.
Your bail form might say that you can’t contact or approach someone. This means that while you are still on bail, you can’t talk to them at all. For example:
You can’t go to their house to talk to them, and you can’t talk to them on the street
You are not allowed to call them or send them a text message or an email
You are not allowed to contact them through social media.
Your bail form might say you can’t have someone else contact or approach someone. This means you can’t ask someone else to talk to that person for you.
Your bail form might say you can’t contact the complainant. The complainant is the person that the police say you have done something bad to. Your bail form might say you can’t contact any witnesses. A witness is someone who saw what happened.
If you need to contact someone, but you are not allowed to, you can ask to change your conditions, so that you can contact them. You will have to say why you need to contact them. You have to do this before you can contact them.
If you know that person is going to an event, such as a party or a funeral, then you can’t go to that event, even if you really want to.
If someone you are not supposed to contact or communicate with contacts you, you cannot talk to them. If they call you, you should not answer (or you should hang up straight away), or if they message you, you should not respond. If you talk to them, you are breaking the rules of your bail.
If you see someone you are not supposed to contact or communicate with, you should move away from them as soon as possible. If you are at an event, such as a party or a funeral, this means you should leave that event straight away.
If you do this even once, you are breaking the rules of your bail. You can be arrested, and you might be charged with breaking your bail conditions.
