In recent bail decisions, attempts have been made to rely upon or incorporate provisions of the Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities Act 2006 (Vic) ("the Charter"), in particular section 25, which refers to the right of a person accused of a crime to be tried without unreasonable delay and to be released if that does not occur. In Gray v DPP [2008] VSC 4, Justice Bongiorno examined the Charter and its interaction with the Bail Act. See also his Honour's comments in Re Unumadu [2007] VSC 258 (23 July 2007)

The most recent authority in regards to bail and the Charter is the Court of Appeal decision in Barbaro v DPP (Cth) and Anor [2009] VSCA 26 (the Barbaro Case) delivered on 3 March 2009. In this case for the first time the Commonwealth DPP "conceded that the Charter was applicable to an application for bail in respect of Commonwealth offences”. Justices Maxwell, Vincent and Kellam accepted the submissions on behalf of the Attorney-General "that the Charter did not require any departure from the existing approach to the treatment of delay as an issue in bail applications". Their Honours went on to state that:

Prior to the decision in the Barbaro Case there was a belief that the Charter modified the Bail Act, but this it seems is not the case. The Charter re-states the common law aversion to delay in bringing an accused person to trial, rather than it being a statement of additional principle.

If the Charter is relied upon notice must be given to the Attorney-General and the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission (Charter - s.35).