Section 51 – Frequency of review of particular decisions
181.Section 51 amends the 1993 Act to make provision in relation to reviews of the consideration for initial release of determinate sentence prisoners, who have their case considered by the Parole Board, and any further consideration for release where the prisoner’s licence has been revoked and the prisoner’s case has subsequently been considered by the Parole Board.
182.Subsection (2) amends section 3A of the 1993 Act (re-release of prisoners serving extended sentences) to provide that extended sentence prisoners, who have had their licence revoked and been returned to custody, must be given written notification of the process involved in having their case referred to the Parole Board.
183.Subsection (3) inserts a new section 3B into the 1993 Act to provide a new review process which applies to all determinate sentence prisoners who have their case considered by the Parole Board, with the exception of recalled extended sentence prisoners. New section 3B(2) and (3) provides that a relevant determinate sentence prisoner is entitled to have a review of the recommendation not to be released from the sentence within 12 months of the date of that decision. New section 3B(4) and (5) provides that a determinate sentence prisoner (not including those subject to an extended sentence) is entitled to have a review of the decision not to release them, following the revocation of the prisoner’s licence under section 17 of the 1993 Act, within 12 months of the date of their return to prison. In both scenarios, it is for the Parole Board to fix a date to review the prisoner’s case within the 12 month period.
184.New section 3B(7) provides for exceptions to this automatic annual review of a determinate sentence prisoner’s case. These are: (a) where the prisoner has less than 12 months of their sentence to serve following the decision not to release them; or (b) where the prisoner has received a further custodial sentence and is not eligible for release from the other matter until after the review date. In this instance, the Parole Board will postpone their scheduled consideration of the case and fix a date for consideration of the case at the earliest point the prisoner would be eligible for release on all matters currently being served.
185.New section 3B(8) provides that the Parole Board must provide the determinate sentence prisoner with reasons for a decision not to recommend release of the prisoner from the sentence in the first instance. It also provides that determinate sentence prisoners, subject to the new review process, must be given written notification of their entitlement to a review.
