Britain: An official handbook > 1993

JUSTICE AND THE LAW
prisoners and for their supervision and
liabilities after release. The Parole Board
continues to advise the Home Secretary on
the early release or recall of long-term
prisoners.
Prisoners serving terms of less than four
years may be released once they have served
half of their sentences in custody. Long-term
prisoners (those serving more than four years)
may be released once they have served two-
thirds of their sentence, although the
legislation provides for the discretionary
release on licence by the Home Secretary, on
the recommendation of the Parole Board, of
long-term prisoners once they have served
one-half of their sentence. All prisoners
sentenced to a year or more may be
supervised on release until three-quarters of
their sentence has passed. Certain sex
offenders may be supervised to the end of
their sentence.
If convicted of another offence punishable
with imprisonment and committed before the
end of the original sentence, a released
prisoner may be liable to serve all or part of
the original sentence outstanding at the time
the fresh offence was committed.
Similar changes are being made in
Scotland.
Northern Ireland
In Northern Ireland prisoners serving a
sentence of more than five days are eligible
for remission of half their sentence. A
prisoner serving a sentence of more than 12
months who is given remission is liable to be
ordered to serve the remainder of this
sentence if convicted of fresh imprisonable
offences during this period.
The rate of remission for those convicted
of terrorist offences and serving sentences of
five years or more is one-third. Any released
prisoners convicted of another terrorist
offence before the expiry of the original
sentence must complete that sentence before
serving any term for the second offence.
Life Sentence Prisoners
Under the Criminal Justice Act 1991, new
procedures operate in England and Wales for
the release of life sentence prisoners
convicted for offences other than murder.
The Home Secretary is required to release
such prisoners after an initial period set by
the trial judge if so directed by the Parole
Board, which has to be satisfied that the
protection of the public does not require
their further confinement. These new
provisions conform with the requirements of
the European Convention on Human Rights.
Similar procedures are being introduced in
Scotland.
People serving life sentences for the
murder of police and prison officers, terrorist
murders, murder by firearms in the course of
robbery and the sexual or sadistic murder of
children are normally detained for at least 20
years.
The release on licence of prisoners serving
mandatory life sentences for murder may
only be authorised by the Home Secretary on
the recommendation of the Parole Board. A
similar policy applies in Scotland. On release,
life sentence prisoners remain on licence for
the rest of their lives and are subject to recall
should their behaviour suggest that they
might again be a danger to the public.
In Northern Ireland the Secretary of State
reviews life sentence cases on the
recommendation of an internal review body.
Repatriation
Sentenced prisoners who are nationals of
countries which have ratified the Council of
Europe Convention on the Transfer of
Sentenced Persons or similar international
arrangements may apply to be returned to
their own country to serve the rest of their
sentence there.
Independent Oversight of the Prison System
Every prison establishment has a Board of
Visitors—a Visiting Committee in Scotland—
drawn from the local community, which acts
as a watchdog for the Secretary of State.
These bodies oversee prison administration
and the treatment of prisoners. In order to
see that prisoners are being treated fairly,
members may go to any part of the prison
and interview any inmate at any time. Except
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