Bail Jargons You Should Know
Being a layman doesn’t mean that you just leave the mumbo-jumbo fine print to the lawyers who toiled to understand them. Educate yourself of these terms that is usually encountered on a bail bond contract to know the terms of what you are signing.
Indemnitor – The person who co-signs, guarantees and responsible to ensure the defendant’s appearance in court.
Bail Condition – The court may set a condition to ensure that the inmate will not miss his court appointment. The court may also give additional conditions for the welfare of the defendant. Sample of this type of bail condition is the defendant should attend counselling while on bail.
Defendant – The individual who is accused of a crime; the person you need to bail out of prison.
Failure to Appear (FTA) – Absent for a required court hearing. This spells additional criminal case on the defendant.
Aiding and Abetting – Knowingly aiding a fugitive, such as providing money, food, assistance, or shelter.
Forfeiture – In case of an FTA, the guarantor or indemnitor is demanded to pay the full bond to the court; or, relinquish the collateral pledged for the bail.
There are more jargons that can show up on the bail bond contract so do not ever hesitate to clarify any part that you do not understand clearly. Once signed, you are legally bound to honor it, whether or not you understand the contract in full.