Management of Offenders (Scotland) Act 2019

Management of Offenders (Scotland) Act 2019

2019 asp 14

The Structure and a Summary of the Act

Part 4 – Prisoners: Control of Release, Being Unlawfully at Large Etc.

Section 60 – Arrest where unlawfully at large

205. Section 60 amends section 40 of the 1989 Act to clarify the powers of a constable (or prison officer) to arrest a person who is unlawfully at large. Section 60(2) amends section 40 so as to provide that a person who is deemed to be unlawfully at large from a period of temporary release is deemed to be unlawfully at large in general and not just for the purposes of section 40.

206. Section 60(3) amends section 40A of the 1989 Act to provide that a warrant to arrest a person who is unlawfully at large can only be sought under that section by a constable. It also adds subsection (1A) to section 40A to provide that a warrant granted under that section confers a power to enter and search premises, and to use reasonable force in doing so.

207. Section 60(5) amends section 9C(4) of the 1993 Act (as nominally inserted by paragraph 4 of schedule 6 of the Custodial Sentences and Weapons (Scotland) Act 2007) so as to provide that a person who is deemed to be unlawfully at large under section 9C(4) (re-entry into United Kingdom of prisoner removed from prison early) is deemed to be unlawfully at large in general and not just for the purposes of section 40 of the 1989 Act.