It should not be assumed that accused wife killer Steven Frank Fesus wouldn't have been granted bail under old laws, Justice Michael Adams says.
Due to the "ensuing publicity" of his decision to give Fesus bail under the new act, Justice Adams decided on Wednesday to publish some of his reasons, which had previously been restricted.
He said he hoped it would give a "better understanding" of the matter.
"It should not be assumed that, had the present application been brought under the old act, bail would have been refused," Justice Adams said.
He added that it was also not correct to suggest that the seriousness of the offence is now not considered in bail applications under the new act, which came into effect two weeks ago.
Justice Adams found that on the "balance of probabilities" Fesus did not present an unacceptable risk either of committing a serious offence or endangering the safety of victims, individuals or the community.
Meanwhile, the state's top judge says the courts have to work with what they have got when it comes to changes in the laws.
Chief Justice of the NSW Supreme Court Tom Bathurst told AAP he would not comment on the "desirability or otherwise of the legislation" as it was not appropriate for a judge to do so.
In explaining the changes to the Bail Act, he said the previous act had a "very complex structure", which was that people were presumed entitled to bail except for a series of particular circumstances.
One of the most controversial examples of this was that people charged with murder would only be granted bail on exceptional cases.
The new act, however, states bail should be granted unless there is an "unacceptable risk".
If a judge or magistrate can impose conditions that ameliorate the risk, he said then they are to grant bail.
When asked why it was important for the previous act to change, Chief Justice Bathurst replied: "The previous act was changed by parliament not by the courts.
"It is not up to us to change these things, it is up to us to apply them ... We take what we get."
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