Bind over

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Bind over or Bind over for sentence is a legal term relating to a power exercised by magistrates in England and Wales.

Magistrates can bind over to be of good behaviour any person such as a defendant, witness or complainant. This may happen where the case involves violence or the threat of it. Sometimes the prosecution will drop such a charge if the defendant agrees to be bound over in this way. No conviction is recorded if the matter is dealt with like this because such an order is regarded as a civil matter.