Since the power to attach conditions to bail was introduced in Great Britain in 1967, research has shown that their use has steadily increased. Conditional bail restricts the liberty of an unconvicted person by making requirements deemed appropriate by the courts to prevent flight and/or offending. The delays that occur in the criminal process mean that many defendants are subject to these requirements for a long time, and some conditions imposed would be unjustly punitive if they were part of the sentence for the crime charged. To examine the use and problems of conditional bail in three South Wales magistrates' courts, case processing was observed for 4 months (April to July 1991), and 60 interviews were conducted with participants in the process. Findings show that the use of conditional bail has leveled off since its introduction in 1967, with 34 percent of defendants receiving it. Disparities were found among the courts, both in the proportional use of conditional bail and in the number of conditions attached to bail. This suggests that conditional bail is, at the very least, being used inconsistently, if not excessively, in some cases. Additional problems are that the conditions of bail are not used as intended, conditions are not relevant to the grounds for objecting to bail, specific conditions do not attain their objectives, and enforcement of some conditions is impractical. 6 notes and 19 references