The Law Society has urged the home secretary to consider safeguards to the emergency bail legislation about to go through parliament to prevent abuse of the bail system by police.

The emergency legislation has been prompted by a High Court ruling in the case of murder suspect Paul Hookway.

The judgment, made orally on 19 May, said the police could not bail someone beyond the maximum 4 day or 96-hour period that they are allowed to hold someone in custody without charge.

In order to detain or question suspects beyond that time, the court said officers would have to re-arrest them, and that they could only do so with new evidence.

Police regularly release suspects on bail for weeks or even months, as they investigate alleged crimes.

Last week, after the written version of the ruling had been circulated, policing minister Nick Herbert said the judgment would seriously effect the ability of forces to investigate crime unless it was overturned on appeal or through legislation.

The government is expected to introduce the Police (Detention and Bail) Bill, clarifying that time spent on bail does not count towards the 96-hour pre-charge detention limit, on Thursday.

After being approved by MPs and peers, the bill is expected to become law next week.

But Law Society president Linda Lee has written to the home secretary Teresa May asking her to consider safeguards to ensure the police cannot use the bail process oppressively or to string out their investigations.

Lee wrote: ‘I ask that the emergency legislation provides first that the police should only admit people to pre-charge bail where it is necessary to do so, and secondly that there be a limit to the length of time a person is subject to pre-charge police bail.

‘While I appreciate the concern of the police as to the impact the decision will have on their ability to investigate crime… there is equally a clear danger that the bail process can be abused by failing to release people in good time when it is clear that no action is going to be taken,’ she said.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court yesterday dismissed an application by Greater Manchester Police, which lost the original bail case, inviting it to stay the effect of the High Court’s judgment ahead of its appeal against it.

The judges said: ‘This application is unusual and it is questionable whether it would be open to the court to grant this relief.’

They said: ‘In any event, however, the judgment was given on 19 May and an application for permission to appeal was made on 21 June.

'The government has announced its intention to introduce emergency legislation this Thursday, 7 July. In these circumstances the court has decided that the application should be dismissed.’