In some

common law In law, common law (also known as judicial precedent, judge-made law, or case law) is the body of law created by judges and similar quasi-judicial tribunals by virtue of being stated in written opinions."The common law is not a brooding omnipres ...

nations, a recognizance is a conditional pledge of money undertaken by a person before a court which, if the person defaults, the person or their sureties will forfeit that sum. It is an

obligation An obligation is a course of action that someone is required to take, whether legal or moral. Obligations are constraints; they limit freedom. People who are under obligations may choose to freely act under obligations. Obligation exists when the ...

of record, entered into before a court or magistrate duly authorized, whereby the party bound acknowledges (recognizes) that they owe a personal debt to the state. A recognizance is subject to a "

defeasance Defeasance (or defeazance) (french: défaire, to undo), in law, an instrument which defeats the force or operation of some other deed or estate; as distinguished from ''condition'', that which in the same deed is called a condition is a defeasan ...

"; that is, the obligation will be avoided if person bound does some particular act, such as appearing in court on a particular day, or keeping the peace. In criminal cases the concept is used both as a form of

bail Bail is a set of pre-trial restrictions that are imposed on a suspect to ensure that they will not hamper the judicial process. Bail is the conditional release of a defendant with the promise to appear in court when required. In some countrie ...

when a person has been charged but not tried and also when a person has been found guilty at trial as an incentive not to commit further misconduct. The concept of a recognizance exists in Australia,

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...

, the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

, and the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. Recognizances were frequently used by courts of quarter sessions, for example they make up more than 70% of surviving records for the

Bedfordshire Bedfordshire (; abbreviated Beds) is a ceremonial county in the East of England. The county has been administered by three unitary authorities, Borough of Bedford, Central Bedfordshire and Borough of Luton, since Bedfordshire County Council ...

Quarter Sessions records.

Bail

A recognizance is a form of bail, in which an accused is released from pre-trial detention with an incentive to ensure that they will appear before the court to face charges on a certain day in the future. A person may be required to provide sureties, being another person who will guarantee the attendance of the accused and agree to forfeit the amount if they don't. If a person is not required to provide a surety, are released "on their own recognizance". Release on recognizance is sometimes abbreviated as ''RoR'', ''OR'' (''own recognizance'', particularly in the United States), or ''PR'' (''personal recognizance''). A recognizance is different from a bail bond in that it is a pledge of money and no upfront payment of a cash deposit is required. Historically recognizances were also used by courts of quarter sessions to require a person to attend court and give evidence.

As an incentive not to commit further misconduct

Where a person has been found guilty at trial, a court may release the defendant on their own recognizance, as an incentive for the person not to commit further offences. In 1733 John Harper was released from

Bridewell Bridewell Palace in London was built as a residence of King Henry VIII and was one of his homes early in his reign for eight years. Given to the City of London Corporation by his son King Edward VI for use as an orphanage and place of corre ...

on his own recognizance. They were used by courts of quarter sessions to keep the peace and for people to be of good behaviour, with the person required to attend the quarter sessions once every year until tensions had cooled. They continue to be used for this purpose in Australia, with the federal ''Crimes Act'' providing that the court can discharge the person with or without sureties, by recognizance or otherwise. The discharge can include conditions such as to be of good behaviour or to pay compensation. A recognizance release order may involve the immediate release of the person into the community or after serving a specified period of time. Discharge of offenders without proceeding to conviction. Conditional release of offenders after conviction. For example the New South Wales Court of Criminal Appeal upheld the sentence imposed on John Khoo for insider trading offences that he be imprisoned for 1 year and 11 months, but be released after 14 months on entering a recognisance to be of good behaviour.

References

{{reflist Law of Hong Kong Irish law Law of Australia Law of Canada Law of the United States Scots law legal terminology Law of obligations Oaths