THE GOVERNMENT'S PROPOSALS
7. The consultation paper was produced jointly by
the Home Office and the Department of Health in July 1999. The
proposals cover changes to the law, administrative action, medical
research and allocation of additional resources. Options A and
B are presented as two groups but most of the proposals apply
to both options. The proposed changes in the law cover both amendment
of existing criminal law and the introduction of a new civil court
order. They provide for a compulsory assessment process, the power
to detain people assessed as dangerous and facilities for accommodating
those detained.
| Proposals common to both options |
| (a) Greater use of existing powers to award discretionary life sentences |
| (b) Extending range of offences for which discretionary life sentences can be given |
| (c) New powers of remand for specialist assessment |
| (d) New powers for compulsory detention, supervision and recall |
| Option A |
| (e) Removing treatability requirement for admission to psychiatric hospital |
| (f) Improving existing services within prisons and hospitals |
| Option B |
| (g) New specialist service separate from but linked to prisons and hospitals |
| (h) New civil court order for detention |
Government Proposals
8. At the heart of these proposals is a revised assessment
process for deciding whether someone with a severe personality
disorder is dangerous. The assessment might last six or more weeks
and the individual would be held securely during that time. Many
of the people affected will already be in custody. Some will undergo
this assessment after conviction for a serious offence and before
sentence. Assessment at this point would provide better information
on which a judge could base the sentence. The Home Office considers
that this may encourage greater use of the discretionary life
sentence. Others will be assessed while in prison and prior to
any decision being taken on their release (either from a discretionary
life sentence or at the end of a fixed/determinate sentence).
Those living in the community may have to be detained against
their will to undergo such an assessment. This would only happen
if such an assessment was recommended by a local panel comprising
the medical professions, social workers, the police and probation
officers. Such Multi-Agency Risk Panels (MARP) have already been
established to help manage sex offenders and potentially dangerous
offenders.
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