Sentencing Act 2026

23 Release E+W

(1) The Criminal Justice Act 2003 is amended in accordance with subsections (2) to (9).

(2) In section 243A (duty to release certain prisoners serving less than 12 months)—

(a) in subsection (1)(b), for sub-paragraph (i) (but not the “and” at the end of that sub-paragraph) substitute—

“(i) is serving a sentence under section 250 of the Sentencing Code which is for a term of more than 1 day but less than 12 months,”;

(b) in subsection (1A), for paragraph (a) (but not the “and” at the end of that paragraph) substitute—

“(a) the prisoner is serving a sentence under section 250 of the Sentencing Code which is for a term of more than 1 day but less than 12 months,”;

(c) in subsection (3), for paragraph (a) (but not the “and” at the end of that paragraph) substitute—

“(a) in relation to a person serving one sentence imposed under section 250 of the Sentencing Code, one half of the sentence,

(aa) in relation to a person serving one sentence of any other kind, one-third of the sentence,”;

(d) in subsection (4), omit paragraph (b) (and the “and” before it).

(3) In section 244(3) (requisite custodial period for prisoners not subject to special provision for release), for paragraph (a) substitute—

“(a) in relation to a prisoner serving one sentence imposed under section 91 of the PCC(S)A 2000 or section 250 of the Sentencing Code, one-half of the sentence,

(aa) in relation to a prisoner serving one sentence of any other kind, one-third of the sentence,”.

(4) In section 244ZA(8) (requisite custodial period for certain violent or sexual offenders), for paragraph (a) (but not the “and” at the end of that paragraph) substitute—

“(a) in relation to a prisoner serving one sentence within subsection (4) or (5), one-half of the prisoner’s sentence,

(aa) in relation to a prisoner serving one sentence within subsection (6), two-thirds of the prisoner’s sentence,”.

(5) In section 246(6) (power to release prisoners on licence before being required to do so: interpretation), in the definition of “the requisite custodial period”, after “paragraph (a)”, in both places it occurs, insert “, (aa)”.

(6) In section 256B(1A)(a) (supervision after release of certain young offenders serving less than 12 months) omit “or 262”.

(7) In section 264 (consecutive terms)—

(a) in subsection (2F)(a)(i), after “243A(1)” insert “or (1A)”;

(b) in subsection (6)—

(i) for paragraph (cb) (but not the “and” at the end of that paragraph) substitute—

“(cb) in relation to a sentence in respect of which section 244ZA applies to the offender by virtue of subsection (4) or (5) of that section, one-half of the sentence,

(cc) in relation to a sentence in respect of which section 244ZA applies to the offender by virtue of subsection (6) of that section, two-thirds of the sentence,

(cd) in relation to any sentence imposed under section 91 of the PCC(S)A 2000, or in relation to any other sentence imposed under section 250 of the Sentencing Code, one-half of the sentence,”;

(ii) in paragraph (d), for “one-half” substitute “one-third”.

(8) In section 264B (consecutive terms: supplementary)—

(a) in subsection (1)(b), omit “of imprisonment”;

(b) in subsection (1)(c)—

(i) omit “of imprisonment”;

(ii) after “imposed”, in the first place it occurs, insert “under section 250 of the Sentencing Code”;

(iii) after “imposed”, in the second place it occurs, insert “(whether or not under section 250 of the Code)”;

(c) in subsection (2)(a), after “the”, in the first place it occurs, insert “minimum”;

(d) in subsection (3), for “custodial period” substitute “minimum custodial period”.

(9) In section 267 (alteration by order of relevant proportion of sentence)—

(a) after “section 243A(3)(a)” insert “or (aa)”;

(b) after “244(3)(a)” insert “or (aa), section 244ZA(8)(a) or (aa)”;

(c) for “264(6)(d)” substitute “264(6)(cb), (cc), (cd) or (d)”.

(10) The Criminal Justice Act 2003 (Requisite and Minimum Custodial Periods) Order 2024 (S.I. 2024/844) is revoked.

(11) In consequence of the amendments made by this section—

(a) in the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012, in Schedule 14, omit paragraph 6(3)(b);

(b) in the Offender Rehabilitation Act 2014, in Schedule 3, omit paragraph 18;

(c) in the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022, omit section 130(6);

(d) in the Home Detention Curfew and Requisite and Minimum Custodial Periods (Amendment) Order 2024 (S.I. 2024/1331) omit articles 3 and 4.

(12) The amendments made by this section, as well as applying in relation to a sentence of imprisonment or detention imposed on or after the day on which those amendments come into force, apply in relation to a sentence of imprisonment or detention imposed before that day if, immediately before that day, the person serving the sentence—

(a) is in custody or detention pursuant to the sentence, or

(b) is on licence subject to a curfew condition within the meaning of section 253 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003.

(13) But subsection (12) does not have the effect that the amendments made by this section apply in relation to a sentence imposed before the day on which those amendments come into force if subsection (14) or (15) applies to the sentence.

(14) This subsection applies to a sentence if—

(a) it is a sentence for an offence listed in Part 3 of Schedule 13 to the Sentencing Code (as inserted by section 7(6) of this Act), and

(b) the sentence was not imposed under section 91 of the Powers of Criminal Courts (Sentencing) Act 2000, section 209 of the Armed Forces Act 2006 or section 250 of the Sentencing Code.

(15) This subsection applies to a sentence if—

(a) section 244 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 applies in relation to the sentence,

(b) the sentence was imposed in respect of an offence for which a sentence of life imprisonment could have been imposed (in the case of an offender aged 21 or over) on the day on which this section comes into force, and

(c) the sentence would, on the date on which this section comes into force, fall within subsection (4) or (5) of section 244ZA of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 if that section were read subject to the following modifications (so far as necessary to enable the subsection in question to apply)—

(i) subsections (4)(c) and (5)(c) (date of sentence) were omitted;

(ii) subsections (4)(d)(ii) and (7)(b)(ii) (availability of life sentence at date of imposition of sentence) were omitted;

(iii) subsection (5)(a) also referred to a sentence under section 96 of the Powers of Criminal Courts (Sentencing) Act 2000.

(16) If section 26 (limitation of provisions about home detention curfew) comes into force before or at the same time as this section, this section is to be read as if subsection (5) were omitted.

Commencement Information

I1 S. 23 not in force at Royal Assent, see s. 49(1)

I2 S. 23(1)(2)(6)(8)(11)(b)(c), (12)-(15) in force at 1.10.2026 except in relation to sentences for excluded offences listed in Sch. by S.I. 2026/953, regs. 2(a), 5, Sch.

I3 S. 23(3)-(5), (7)(11)(a)(d) in force at 1.10.2026 except in relation to sentences for excluded offences listed in Sch. and with phased commencement in accordance with regs. 3, 4 in relation to a person serving a sentence imposed before that date by S.I. 2026/953, regs. 2(b), 3-5, Sch.

I4 S. 23(10) in force at 1.10.2026 except in relation to a sentence mentioned in reg. 6 or to sentences for excluded offences listed in Sch. and with phased commencement in accordance with regs. 3, 4 in relation to a person serving a sentence imposed before that date by S.I. 2026/953, regs. 2(b), 3-6, Sch.