Being released on bail can be a huge relief, particularly after spending time in police custody or appearing before a court. For some defendants, however, release comes with strict conditions, including a requirement to remain at home during certain hours and an electronic tag to monitor compliance. It is often at this point that an important question arises: does the time spent on curfew count towards any sentence I might receive?
The answer depends on the type of curfew and the circumstances in which it was imposed. A bail curfew is not automatically a qualifying curfew, and simply wearing an electronic tag does not by itself guarantee sentence credit. The distinction can become particularly important where a defendant remains on bail for a lengthy period before their case is concluded. This article explains what a qualifying curfew is, how the credit is calculated, what can happen if a curfew is breached, and how a bail curfew differs from a curfew imposed as part of a sentence.
What is a curfew on bail?
When a defendant is released on bail, the court can impose conditions where the legal requirements for doing so are satisfied. One possible condition is a curfew requiring the defendant to remain at a specified address, or addresses, during particular hours. For example, a defendant might be required to remain at home between 9pm and 7am. That is a ten-hour curfew.
A bail curfew is a restriction imposed while the criminal proceedings are still ongoing. It is not a punishment and does not mean that the defendant has been convicted. The defendant remains on bail and must comply with the conditions imposed by the court. A curfew can also be accompanied by electronic monitoring, with an electronic tag being used to check compliance with the underlying curfew condition; the tag itself does not create the curfew.
There is no general statutory minimum or maximum number of hours for a bail curfew. The significance of the nine-hour threshold arises when considering whether the curfew can qualify for the statutory sentence-credit provisions. A defendant can therefore have a perfectly valid bail curfew which does not qualify for this particular form of credit.
What is a qualifying curfew?
A qualifying curfew is a bail curfew which satisfies the requirements of the law allowing certain periods on bail to count towards a later custodial sentence. One of the central requirements is that the bail condition requires the defendant to remain at one or more specified places for a total of at least nine hours in any given day. The bail must also be subject to the relevant electronic monitoring condition.
The nine-hour requirement is therefore important, but it is not the entire test. For example, a curfew from 8pm to 4am is eight hours and does not meet the duration requirement, while a curfew from 10pm to 7am is nine hours and meets that particular requirement. A curfew from 9pm to 7am is ten hours and also meets the duration requirement. Whether a particular day ultimately produces credit depends on the wider legal calculation, including whether the relevant conditions applied and whether there were any breaches or other periods that have to be taken into account.
This is why it is important not to reduce the law to the statement that “nine hours equals a qualifying curfew”. Nine hours is the minimum duration required by the relevant definition, but the entitlement to credit depends on the legal requirements as a whole. The actual bail order, the electronic monitoring arrangements and the history of compliance may all need to be examined.
Does the curfew have to be electronically monitored?
For the statutory credit against a subsequent custodial sentence, the qualifying curfew must be accompanied by the relevant electronic monitoring condition. Electronic monitoring allows compliance with the curfew requirement to be checked and provides information which can later be used when working out the qualifying period.
Depending on the monitoring arrangement, this may involve a radio-frequency tag monitoring whether the defendant is at the specified address during the curfew hours. Other electronic monitoring technology can be used to monitor geographical conditions. The important distinction is that the electronic monitoring requirement monitors the bail condition; it does not replace the underlying condition imposed by the court.
Electronic monitoring records can become particularly important when a defendant is sentenced. Information from the monitoring provider may be needed to establish the relevant days and any recorded non-compliance. The Ministry of Justice’s court bail protocol specifically provides for compliance information to be obtained where custody credit may be due.
How does qualifying-curfew credit work?
Where a defendant has been remanded on bail with a qualifying curfew and the relevant electronic monitoring condition, and the court subsequently imposes a determinate custodial sentence, section 325 of the Sentencing Act 2020 requires the court to specify the credit period.
The calculation is more precise than simply counting the number of days between the start and end of the curfew. The law requires the court to identify the relevant days, deduct certain days covered by other electronic-monitoring requirements or temporary release, deduct relevant days on which the defendant breached the qualifying conditions, divide the resulting figure by two and, where necessary, round up to the nearest whole number. The result is the period which is directed to count towards the sentence.
In practical terms, this means you cannot simply count the number of days you were tagged and divide that figure by two. The court first has to establish which days qualify, remove any days that the law says must be excluded, take account of relevant breaches and then apply the statutory calculation.
This means it is not accurate to say that a defendant receives one full day of sentence credit for every day spent on a qualifying curfew. The law recognises the restriction imposed by a qualifying curfew, but the credit is calculated at half a day for each qualifying day, after the relevant deductions have been made.
A worked example:
Suppose a defendant is on bail with an electronically monitored curfew from 9pm to 7am and remains subject to that qualifying condition for 120 relevant days. If, for the purposes of this example, all 120 days satisfy the legal requirements and there are no deductions for breaches or other matters, the calculation would be:
120 qualifying days ÷ 2 = 60 days’ credit.
Those 60 days would count towards the subsequent custodial sentence. The example is deliberately straightforward, because the important point is that the starting figure must first be established as the number of qualifying days. In a real case, simply counting the number of calendar days between two dates may produce the wrong answer.
Does every day on a qualifying curfew count?
Not necessarily. The law contains rules governing which days are included in the calculation, and the period must be considered in light of the actual conditions imposed on the defendant. The calculation generally begins with the day on which the relevant conditions were first imposed and includes the other days on which those conditions applied, subject to the statutory deductions and the specific rules governing the final day before sentence.
Breaches also have to be considered. Section 325 provides for relevant days on which the defendant breached the qualifying conditions to be deducted as part of the calculation. This is one reason why electronic monitoring information and the history of the defendant’s bail conditions can be important when sentence is passed.
A defendant may therefore have been subject to a ten-hour curfew for 120 calendar days without necessarily receiving credit calculated simply by taking 120 and dividing it by two. The actual statutory calculation needs to be carried out using the relevant information.
What if my tag was not fitted immediately?
The position can depend on why electronic monitoring was not operating during a particular period. If your tag was not fitted immediately, you should not assume that the entire period automatically counts, but equally, you should not assume that the period is automatically lost.
The precise bail conditions, the monitoring arrangements and the reason for the failure all need to be considered. There can be an important difference between a delay or failure caused by circumstances outside the defendant’s control and a situation in which the defendant deliberately prevents monitoring from taking place.
The Court of Appeal has confirmed that there is no automatic statutory deduction merely because electronic monitoring was not effective during a period. What matters is whether the defendant was subject to the relevant qualifying curfew and electronic monitoring conditions and whether the defendant actually breached those conditions. The circumstances surrounding the failure to fit or operate the tag should therefore be examined carefully rather than assuming that the absence of a functioning tag automatically prevents credit.
What happens if I breach my bail curfew?
A breach of a bail condition can have consequences, but a breach does not automatically mean imprisonment. The appropriate response depends on what happened, why it happened and the nature of the breach. A deliberate decision to leave the address during prohibited hours is different from an isolated mistake, a genuine emergency or a technical problem with monitoring equipment.
Electronic monitoring can generate information or an alert where the system detects a potential breach. The circumstances can then be investigated and dealt with under the applicable bail arrangements. A breach may lead to the court reconsidering bail or changing the conditions, and it can also affect the calculation of qualifying-curfew credit where the law requires a relevant day to be deducted.
If there has been a genuine emergency, equipment failure or another circumstance affecting compliance, the defendant should deal with the issue promptly and, where appropriate, keep evidence explaining what happened. What should be avoided is simply ignoring the condition or assuming that a breach will have no consequences.
Is a qualifying curfew the same as time spent on remand?
No. There is an important distinction between being remanded in custody and being remanded on bail subject to a qualifying curfew. A person in custody is physically detained, whereas a person on qualifying bail remains in the community but is subject to a significant restriction on their liberty.
Both forms of restriction can have consequences at sentence, but they are governed by different legal provisions and should not be treated as interchangeable. A defendant may, for example, spend part of a case in custody, part on ordinary bail and part on electronically monitored qualifying bail. Those periods need to be considered separately when determining what credit or other sentencing consequences apply.
Describing all of this simply as “time on remand” can therefore obscure an important legal distinction. The defendant’s status and the conditions operating during each period matter.
What if I receive a community order?
The treatment of qualifying-curfew time is different if the court imposes a community order rather than a custodial sentence. The Sentencing Council’s current guideline states that the court may take time spent remanded in custody or on a qualifying curfew into account when determining the restrictions on liberty to be imposed by a community order.
This does not mean that qualifying-curfew days are simply deducted from the length of a community order. Instead, the court considers the restriction you have already experienced when deciding what requirements are appropriate. Depending on the circumstances, previous time on remand or qualifying curfew may reduce a requirement imposed for punishment, or may contribute to circumstances in which imposing such a requirement would be unjust.
A curfew imposed as part of a community order is therefore a different concept from a qualifying bail curfew. One is a restriction already experienced while the criminal proceedings are continuing; the other is itself a requirement forming part of the sentence.
What about a suspended sentence?
A suspended sentence requires particular care because it is a custodial sentence which is not immediately activated. The treatment of qualifying-curfew time therefore needs to be distinguished from the way a curfew operates as part of a community sentence.
The statutory framework provides for qualifying-curfew credit to be relevant where a suspended custodial sentence is subsequently activated. The Sentencing Council states that, when imposing a suspended sentence order, the court should determine the length of the custodial term without reference to time spent on remand or on a qualifying curfew. The court should indicate that this time would be deducted if the sentence is later activated. If the defendant has already spent a significant proportion of the custodial term on remand or on a qualifying curfew, the court must also consider whether it is appropriate to impose a suspended sentence at all.
The practical point is that a defendant should not assume that qualifying-curfew time simply reduces the length of a suspended sentence at the moment it is imposed. The consequences may become relevant if the sentence is later activated, and the precise position depends on the sentence imposed and the circumstances in which it is activated.
What changed in 2026?
There have been significant changes to the bail framework in 2026. Amendments made by the Sentencing Act 2026 changed the Bail Act 1976 so that electronic monitoring can, where the statutory requirements are satisfied, be imposed in certain cases where there is no real prospect of an immediate custodial sentence but a real prospect of a suspended sentence.
The changes broaden the circumstances in which electronically monitored bail may be available. They do not mean that every defendant facing a possible suspended sentence will automatically be electronically tagged, because the statutory conditions must still be satisfied. Nor do the changes remove the separate requirements governing qualifying-curfew credit.
For defendants, the practical significance is that electronic monitoring may now arise in circumstances where the likely sentencing outcome is different from the traditional situation in which electronic monitoring was considered primarily as an alternative to custody. The precise position should be assessed under the legislation in force at the time the bail decision is made.
What should your solicitor check before sentence?
Where a defendant has spent a substantial period on electronically monitored bail, the qualifying-curfew position should be checked carefully before sentence. This means looking beyond the headline dates and examining the actual bail conditions, including the number of hours required each day, when those conditions came into force, whether they were subsequently varied and what electronic monitoring arrangements were in place.
Any recorded breaches, periods of non-compliance or problems with the monitoring equipment should also be considered. The electronic monitoring provider’s records can be important in establishing the relevant period, and the Ministry of Justice’s bail protocol specifically recognises the need for compliance information where custody credit may be due.
The purpose is not simply to ask the sentencing court for a particular number of days. The calculation should be supported by the relevant records and carried out in accordance with the law. Where a defendant has spent several months under a qualifying curfew, making sure that the correct information is before the court can make a meaningful difference.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a qualifying curfew?
A qualifying curfew is a bail condition requiring a defendant to remain at one or more specified places for at least nine hours in any given day, together with the relevant electronic monitoring condition. Where the legal requirements are satisfied, the period can result in credit towards a subsequent custodial sentence.
Does a nine-hour curfew automatically give me credit?
No. Nine hours is the minimum duration required by the relevant definition, but it is not the whole legal test. The relevant bail conditions, electronic monitoring arrangements, qualifying days and any applicable deductions or breaches must also be considered.
How much sentence credit can I receive?
Broadly, the statutory calculation provides for half a day of credit for each qualifying day, after the relevant deductions have been made. It is therefore not necessarily one day of credit for every calendar day spent on curfew.
Does every electronic tag give sentence credit?
No. Wearing an electronic tag does not, by itself, create an entitlement to qualifying-curfew credit. The underlying bail curfew and the other legal requirements must be satisfied.
What happens if I breach my curfew?
A breach can have consequences for your bail and may affect the calculation of qualifying-curfew credit. The seriousness and circumstances of the breach matter. A breach does not automatically mean that you will be sent to prison, but it should always be taken seriously.
Is a bail curfew the same as a sentencing curfew?
No. A qualifying curfew is imposed as a condition of bail before the proceedings have concluded. A sentencing curfew is imposed as part of a sentence, such as a community order, and operates under a different legal framework.
Does qualifying-curfew time count in the same way as time in custody?
No. Time spent in custody on remand and time spent on qualifying curfew are legally distinct. Both can be relevant when sentence is imposed, but different legal provisions govern their treatment.
What if my tag was not fitted?
The answer depends on the circumstances. A delay in fitting a tag does not necessarily mean that the entire period is lost, particularly where the failure was outside the defendant’s control. However, the precise bail conditions and reason for the absence of monitoring need to be examined.
What should I do if I think my qualifying-curfew credit has been missed?
Speak to your solicitor or legal representative as soon as possible. The bail conditions, relevant dates, electronic monitoring records and any breaches should be checked to establish whether the statutory calculation has been carried out correctly.
How Empire Law Can Help
The rules surrounding bail curfews and sentence credit can be difficult to navigate, particularly where a defendant has spent a long period on electronically monitored bail. The distinction between an ordinary bail curfew, a qualifying curfew and a curfew imposed as part of a sentence can have practical consequences, and the relevant records may need to be examined carefully before sentence.
At Empire Law, our criminal defence team can advise you on your bail conditions and, where relevant, the potential effect of qualifying-curfew time on your position at sentence. We can also examine the relevant information where there is an issue concerning the calculation of credit, compliance with bail conditions or the treatment of electronically monitored curfew time.
If you are on bail with a curfew, have been electronically monitored, or are approaching sentence after spending a significant period subject to a curfew, contact Empire Law for confidential advice about your circumstances.
