 | |
| |
PART V |
| |
MISCELLANEOUS AND SUPPLEMENTAL |
| |
Remands and committals |
| Remands and committals of children and young persons. |
89. - (1) In subsection (4) of section 23 of the 1969 Act (remands and committals to local authority accommodation), for the words "Subject to subsection (5) below," there shall be substituted the words "Subject to subsections (5) and (5A) below,".
|
| |
(2) In subsection (5) of that section, for the words "a young person who has attained the age of fifteen" there shall be substituted the words "a child who has attained the age of twelve, or a young person, who (in either case) is of a prescribed description".
|
| |
(3) After that subsection there shall be inserted the following subsection-
|
| |
 |
"(5A) A court shall not impose a security requirement in respect of a child or young person who is not legally represented in the court unless-
|
| |
(a) he applied for legal aid and the application was refused on the ground that it did not appear his means were such that he required assistance; or |
| |
(b) having been informed of his right to apply for legal aid and had the opportunity to do so, he refused or failed to apply." |
|
| |
(4) In subsection (12) of that section, after the definition of "imprisonable offence" there shall be inserted the following definition-
|
| |
|
""prescribed description" means a description prescribed by reference to age or sex or both by an order of the Secretary of State;". |
|
| |
(5) Section 20 of the 1994 Act (which has not been brought into force and is superseded by this section) is hereby repealed.
|
| Remands and committals: alternative provision for 15 or 16 year old boys. |
90. - (1) Section 23 of the 1969 Act shall have effect with the modifications specified in subsections (2) to (6) below in relation to any male person who-
|
| |
(a) is of the age of 15 or 16; and |
| |
(b) is not of a description prescribed for the purposes of subsection (5) of that section. |
| |
(2) In subsection (1), immediately before the words "the remand" there shall be inserted the words "then, unless he is remanded to a remand centre or a prison in pursuance of subsection (4)(b) or (c) below,".
|
| |
(3) For subsections (4) to (5A) there shall be substituted the following subsections-
|
| |
|
"(4) Where a court, after consultation with a probation officer, a social worker of a local authority social services department or a member of a youth offending team, declares a person to be one to whom subsection (5) below applies-
|
| |
(a) it shall remand him to local authority accommodation and require him to be placed and kept in secure accommodation, if- |
| |
(i) it also, after such consultation, declares him to be a person to whom subsection (5A) below applies; and
|
| |
(ii) it has been notified that secure accommodation is available for him;
|
| |
(b) it shall remand him to a remand centre, if paragraph (a) above does not apply and it has been notified that such a centre is available for the reception from the court of persons to whom subsection (5) below applies; and |
| |
(c) it shall remand him to a prison, if neither paragraph (a) nor paragraph (b) above applies. |
| |
(4A) A court shall not declare a person who is not legally represented in the court to be a person to whom subsection (5) below applies unless-
|
| |
(a) he applied for legal aid and the application was refused on the ground that it did not appear his means were such that he required assistance; or |
| |
(b) having been informed of his right to apply for legal aid and had the opportunity to do so, he refused or failed to apply. |
| |
(5) This subsection applies to a person who-
|
| |
(a) is charged with or has been convicted of a violent or sexual offence, or an offence punishable in the case of an adult with imprisonment for a term of fourteen years or more; or |
| |
(b) has a recent history of absconding while remanded to local authority accommodation, and is charged with or has been convicted of an imprisonable offence alleged or found to have been committed while he was so remanded, |
| |
if (in either case) the court is of opinion that only remanding him to a remand centre or prison, or to local authority accommodation with a requirement that he be placed and kept in secure accommodation, would be adequate to protect the public from serious harm from him.
|
| |
(5A) This subsection applies to a person if the court is of opinion that, by reason of his physical or emotional immaturity or a propensity of his to harm himself, it would be undesirable for him to be remanded to a remand centre or a prison."
|
|
| |
(4) In subsection (6)-
|
| |
(a) for the words "imposes a security requirement in respect of a young person" there shall be substituted the words "declares a person to be one to whom subsection (5) above applies"; and |
| |
(b) for the words "subsection (5) above" there shall be substituted the words "that subsection". |
| |
(5) In subsection (7), after the words "a security requirement" there shall be inserted the words "(that is to say, a requirement imposed under subsection (4)(a) above that the person be placed and kept in secure accommodation)".
|
| |
(6) After subsection (9) there shall be inserted the following subsection-
|
| |
|
"(9A) Where a person is remanded to local authority accommodation without the imposition of a security requirement, a relevant court may, on the application of the designated authority, declare him to be a person to whom subsection (5) above applies; and on its doing so, subsection (4) above shall apply."
|
|
| |
(7) Section 62 of the 1991 Act (which is superseded by this section) shall cease to have effect.
|
| |
Release and recall of prisoners |
| Power to release short-term prisoners on licence. |
91. Immediately before section 35 of the 1991 Act there shall be inserted the following section-
|
| |
| "Power to release short-term prisoners on licence. |
34A. - (1) Subject to subsection (2) below, subsection (3) below applies where a short-term prisoner aged 18 or over is serving a sentence of imprisonment for a term of three months or more.
|
|
(2) Subsection (3) below does not apply where-
|
| |
(a) the sentence is an extended sentence within the meaning of section 55 of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998; |
| |
(b) the sentence is for an offence under section 1 of the Prisoners (Return to Custody) Act 1995; |
| |
(c) the sentence was imposed under paragraph 3(1)(d) or 4(1)(d) of Schedule 2 to this Act in a case where the prisoner had failed to comply with a requirement of a curfew order; |
| |
(d) the prisoner is subject to a hospital order, hospital direction or transfer direction under section 37, 45A or 47 of the Mental Health Act 1983; |
| |
(e) the prisoner is liable to removal from the United Kingdom for the purposes of section 46 below; |
| |
(f) the prisoner has been released on licence under this section at any time and has been recalled to prison under section 38A(1)(a) below; |
| |
(g) the prisoner has been released on licence under this section or section 36 below during the currency of the sentence, and has been recalled to prison under section 39(1) or (2) below; |
| |
(h) the prisoner has been returned to prison under section 40 below at any time; or |
| |
(j) the interval between- |
| |
(i) the date on which the prisoner will have served the requisite period for the term of the sentence; and
|
| |
(ii) the date on which he will have served one-half of the sentence,
|
| |
|
| |
(3) After the prisoner has served the requisite period for the term of his sentence, the Secretary of State may, subject to section 37A below, release him on licence.
|
| |
(4) In this section "the requisite period" means-
|
| |
(a) for a term of three months or more but less than four months, a period of 30 days; |
| |
(b) for a term of four months or more but less than eight months, a period equal to one-quarter of the term; |
| |
(c) for a term of eight months or more, a period that is 60 days less than one-half of the term. |
| |
(5) The Secretary of State may by order made by statutory instrument-
|
| |
(a) repeal the words "aged 18 or over" in subsection (1) above; |
| |
(b) amend the definition of "the requisite period" in subsection (4) above; and |
| |
(c) make such transitional provision as appears to him necessary or expedient in connection with the repeal or amendment. |
| |
(6) No order shall be made under subsection (5) above unless a draft of the order has been laid before and approved by a resolution of each House of Parliament."
|
|
