Prevention of Crime Act 1908

14 Power to discharge on licence

(1) The Secretary of State shall, once at least in every three years during which a person is detained in custody under a sentence of preventive detention, take into consideration the condition, history, and circumstances of that person with a view to determining whether he shall be placed out on licence, and, if so, on what conditions.

(2) The Secretary of State may at any time discharge on licence a person undergoing preventive detention if satisfied that there is a reasonable probability that he will abstain from crime and lead a useful and industrious life or that he is no longer capable of engaging in crime, or that for any other reason it is desirable to release him from confinement in prison.

(3) A person so discharged on licence may be discharged on probation, and on condition that he be placed under the supervision or authority of any society or person named in the licence who may be willing to take charge of the case, or on such other conditions as may be specified in the licence.

(4) The Directors of Convict Prisons shall report periodically to the Secretary of State on the conduct and industry of persons undergoing preventive detention, and their prospects and probable behaviour on release, and for this purpose shall be assisted by a committee at each prison in which such persons are detained, consisting of such members of the board of visitors and such other persons of either sex as the Secretary of State may from time to time appoint.

(5) Every such committee shall hold meetings, at such intervals of not more than six months as may be prescribed, for the purpose of personally interviewing persons undergoing preventive detention in the prison and preparing reports embodying such information respecting them as may be necessary for the assistance of the Directors, and may at any other times hold such other meetings, and make such special reports respecting particular cases, as they may think necessary.

(6) A licence under this section may be in such form and may contain such conditions as may be prescribed by the Secretary of State.

(7) The provisions relating to licences to be at large granted to persons undergoing penal servitude shall not apply to persons undergoing preventive detention.