There has been much criticism recorded in the press recently regarding the decision of a Parole Board to release from prison a man convicted of several serious attacks against women. We asked our Prison Law expert Julie Massen to explain more about Parole Boards and how their decisions are made.

What is a Parole Board?

"The Parole Board is an independent body who have the job of assessing a prisoners risk to the public. They will determine whether that individual can be released back into the community or recommend a progressive move to an open prison. If a prisoner is not recommended a progressive move or release into the community then they will make recommendations as to what further offending behaviour work may be required to assist in that prisoner progressing through their sentence to eventual release."

Who sits on the parole board?

"The Parole Board members come from a variety of backgrounds and consist of Psychologists, Psychiatrists, judicial members ie Judges, Probation Officers and independent members."

When is someone eligible for parole?

"Prisoners who have a life sentence or an IPP (imprisonment for public protection) will have a tariff set for the minimum period they must serve before they can be considered for release. This reflects the gravity of the offence for which they are sentenced. These prisoners have what is known as an indeterminate sentence. Once an indeterminate sentence prisoner’s minimum term has been served, they are eligible to be considered for release by the Parole Board. The law states that the offender is no longer held in prison as a punishment and can only remain in prison if they pose a risk to the public. It requires a court, in this case the Parole Board, to decide that issue."

What are the rules that the Parole Board must observe?

"The Parole Board is governed by statute. Parliament has, since 1997, determined that the sole task of the Board is to consider the risk posed by the prisoner at the time of his or her parole hearing. Deciding whether to release a prisoner is a matter of judgement, based on all the evidence presented to the panel."

How does the Parole Board make decisions?

"The Parole Board decides what order to make by assessing the risk the prisoner presents to the public. It may only direct the release of a life sentence prisoner if it is satisfied that it is no longer necessary for them to be detained in order to protect the public from serious harm. If it is so satisfied, it is required to release the prisoner. The Parole Board is not legally permitted to consider whether the prisoner has been punished enough, instead it must focus solely on how dangerous the prisoner is."

"When making its decision the Parole Board will take into account the nature of the index offence, the prisoner’s offending history, the prisoner’s progress in prison, any statement made on behalf of the victim(s), psychologist’s reports, probation officer’s reports, prisons officer’s reports and any statistical risk assessments that have been completed. There must also be a comprehensive resettlement plan in place."

"In order to direct release, the Board should be satisfied that it is no longer necessary for the prisoner to be detained in order to protect the public from serious harm (to life and limb). It is not a requirement to balance the risk against the benefits to the public or the prisoner of release."

What sort of information is the Parole Board given?

"The Parole Board receives a dossier prior to the Parole hearing which contains reports from Probation, both the inside Probation Officer and the outside Probation Officer. Recommendations will be contained within those reports as to how the prisoner should progress. There will also be risk assessments carried out and these will be set out in the dossier along with a variety of other reports, for example information on the courses completed by the prisoner which aim to reduce their risk of reoffending and therefore reducing their risk. There may also be reports from Psychologists also looking at the prisoner’s risk. So the Parole Board will have a lot of information before them to consider before they even meet that prisoner which helps them focus on any issues that may not be evident from the reports in the dossier."

"The Parole Board will ask the prisoner about the offence which brought them to prison, what was going on in their life at that time and how the offence came to be committed. They will want to know what that prisoner has learnt from the offending behaviour courses they have completed in prison, if they know what their risk factors are and how they will manage them in the future. For example a prisoner might have committed violent offences whilst drunk so therefore alcohol would be a risk factor. There are lots of different types of risk factors and during the course of their prison sentence those would have been identified and focus would have been put on addressing those risk factors to reduce that prisoner’s risk."

What happens if a prisoner is released?

"Any indeterminate sentence prisoner released will be managed in the community by the probation service under strict licence conditions. Should a prisoner breach one of these licence conditions they can be recalled to prison. Prisoners who are recalled to prison and have a indeterminate sentence will not be released back into the community without a further review being carried out by the Parole Board. Some prisoners may find themselves spending many more years in prison before they are released again."

What if the Parole Board does not recommend release?

Any indeterminate sentence prisoner not released must, under current legislation, have their continued detention reviewed periodically, but at least every two years. The date of parole reviews is set by the Secretary of State for Justice.

Is it possible to appeal against a Parole Board decision?

There is no appeal against a Parole Board decision but it is possible to apply for judicial review.

It may be possible to apply for judicial review if it is believed that:

• important information was not given to the Parole Board; or
• the application wasn’t dealt with appropriately, eg the decision was unlawful or unreasonable.

For more information please contact Julie Massen (julie.massen@mcp-law.co.uk, 01945 428029).