The Scottish Government introduced the Prisoners (Control of Release) (Scotland) Bill in the Parliament on 14 August 2014.
It seeks to end automatic early release for some prisoners:
· sex offenders sentenced to determinate custodial sentences of four years or more
· other offenders sentenced to determinate custodial sentences of ten years or more
A determinate sentence, in contrast to a life sentence, is one for a fixed period of years, months and/or days. It is only determinate sentence prisoners that currently qualify for automatic early release. The release of life sentence prisoners is never automatic.
The Bill would also allow the Scottish Prison Service, acting on behalf of the Scottish Ministers, to release sentenced prisoners up to two days early where this would help facilitate community reintegration (eg by allowing for early access to key public services).
This briefing considers the above provisions with a focus on the proposals relating to automatic early release.
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Published: 25 September 2014