House of Commons portcullis
House of Commons
Session 2002 - 03
Internet Publications
Other Bills before Parliament

Criminal Justice Bill


Criminal Justice Bill
Part 12 — Sentencing
Chapter 5 — Dangerous offenders

    120

 

           (b)           the court considers—

                  (i)                 that there is a significant risk to members of the public of serious

harm occasioned by the commission by the offender of further

specified offences, and

                  (ii)                where the specified offence is a serious offence, that the case is

5

not one in which the court is required by section 208(2) to

impose a sentence of detention for life under section 91 of the

Sentencing Act or by section 208(3) to impose a sentence of

detention for public protection.

     (2)    The court must impose on the offender an extended sentence of detention, that

10

is to say, a sentence of detention the term of which is equal to the aggregate

of—

           (a)           the appropriate custodial term, and

           (b)           a further period (“the extension period”) for which the offender is to be

subject to a licence and which is of such length as the court considers

15

necessary for the purpose of protecting members of the public from

serious harm occasioned by the commission by him of further specified

offences.

     (3)    In subsection (2) “the appropriate custodial term” means such term as the court

considers appropriate, which—

20

           (a)           must be at least 12 months, and

           (b)           must not exceed the maximum term of imprisonment permitted for the

offence in the case of a person aged 18 or over.

     (4)    The extension period must not exceed—

           (a)           five years in the case of a specified violent offence, and

25

           (b)           eight years in the case of a specified sexual offence.

     (5)    The term of an extended sentence of detention passed under this section in

respect of an offence must not exceed the maximum term of imprisonment

permitted for the offence in the case of a person aged 18 or over.

 211   The assessment of dangerousness

30

     (1)    This section applies where—

           (a)           a person has been convicted of a specified offence, and

           (b)           it falls to a court to assess under any of sections 207 to 210 whether there

is a significant risk to members of the public of serious harm occasioned

by the commission by him of further such offences.

35

     (2)    If at the time when that offence was committed the offender had not been

convicted in any part of the United Kingdom of any relevant offence or was

aged under 18, the court in making the assessment referred to in subsection

(1)(b)—

           (a)           must take into account all such information as is available to it about

40

the nature and circumstances of the offence,

           (b)           may take into account any information which is before it about any

pattern of behaviour of which the offence forms part, and

           (c)           may take into account any information about the offender which is

before it.

45

     (3)    If at the time when that offence was committed the offender was aged 18 or

over and had been convicted in any part of the United Kingdom of one or more

 

 

Criminal Justice Bill
Part 12 — Sentencing
Chapter 5 — Dangerous offenders

    121

 

     (3)    relevant offences, the court must assume that there is such a risk as is

mentioned in subsection (1)(b) unless, after taking into account—

           (a)           all such information as is available to it about the nature and

circumstances of each of the offences,

           (b)           where appropriate, any information which is before it about any

5

pattern of behaviour of which any of the offences forms part, and

           (c)           any information about the offender which is before it,

            the court considers that it would be unreasonable to conclude that there is such

a risk.

     (4)    In this Chapter “relevant offence” means—

10

           (a)           an offence committed in England and Wales that is a specified offence,

           (b)           an offence committed in Scotland that is specified in Schedule 13,

           (c)           an offence committed in Northern Ireland that is specified in Schedule

14, or

           (d)           an offence that—

15

                  (i)                 is specified in Schedule 12, 13 or 14, and

                  (ii)                is constituted by an act or omission outside the United

Kingdom.

 212   Imprisonment or detention for public protection: release on licence

Schedule 15 (release of prisoners serving sentences of imprisonment or

20

detention for public protection) shall have effect.

 213   Appeals where previous convictions set aside

     (1)    This section applies where—

           (a)           a sentence has been imposed on any person under section 207 or 209,

and

25

           (b)           any previous conviction of his without which the court would not have

been required to make the assumption mentioned in section 211(3) has

been subsequently set aside on appeal.

     (2)    Notwithstanding anything in section 18 of the Criminal Appeal Act 1968

(c. 19), notice of appeal against the sentence may be given at any time within

30

28 days from the date on which the previous conviction was set aside.

 214   Certificates of convictions for purposes of section 211

Where—

           (a)           on any date after the commencement of this section a person is

convicted in England and Wales of a relevant offence, and

35

           (b)           the court by or before which he is so convicted states in open court that

he has been convicted of such an offence on that date, and

           (c)           that court subsequently certifies that fact,

            that certificate shall be evidence, for the purposes of section 211, that he was

convicted of such an offence on that date.

40

 215   Offences under service law

Where—

 

 

Criminal Justice Bill
Part 12 — Sentencing
Chapter 5 — Dangerous offenders

    122

 

           (a)           a person has at any time been convicted of an offence under section 70

of the Army Act 1955 (3 & 4 Eliz. 2 c. 18), section 70 of the Air Force Act

1955 (3 & 4 Eliz. 2 c. 19) or section 42 of the Naval Discipline Act 1957

(c. 53), and

           (b)           the corresponding civil offence (within the meaning of that Act) was a

5

relevant offence,

            section 211 shall have effect as if he had at that time been convicted in England

and Wales of the corresponding civil offence.

 216   Determination of day when offence committed

Where an offence is found to have been committed over a period of two or

10

more days, or at some time during a period of two or more days, it shall be

taken for the purposes of section 211 to have been committed on the last of

those days.

 217   Detention under ss. 208 and 210

A person sentenced to be detained under section 208 or 210 is liable to be

15

detained in such place, and under such conditions, as may be determined by

the Secretary of State or by such other person as may be authorised by him for

the purpose.

 218   Conversion of sentences of detention into sentences of imprisonment

For section 99 of the Sentencing Act (conversion of sentence of detention and

20

custody into sentence of imprisonment) there is substituted—

“Conversion of sentence of detention to sentence of imprisonment

       99            Conversion of sentence of detention to sentence of imprisonment

           (1)           Subject to the following provisions of this section, where an offender

has been sentenced by a relevant sentence of detention to a term of

25

detention and either—

                  (a)                 he has attained the age of 21, or

                  (b)                 he has attained the age of 18 and has been reported to the

Secretary of State by the board of visitors of the institution in

which he is detained as exercising a bad influence on the other

30

inmates of the institution or as behaving in a disruptive manner

to the detriment of those inmates,

                         the Secretary of State may direct that he shall be treated as if he had

been sentenced to imprisonment for the same term.

           (2)           Where the Secretary of State gives a direction under subsection (1)

35

above in relation to an offender, the portion of the term of detention

imposed under the relevant sentence of detention which he has already

served shall be deemed to have been a portion of a term of

imprisonment.

           (3)           Where the Secretary of State gives a direction under subsection (1)

40

above in relation to an offender serving a sentence of detention for

public protection under section 208 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 the

offender shall be treated as if he had been sentenced under section 207

 

 

Criminal Justice Bill
Part 12 — Sentencing
Chapter 6 — Release on licence of fixed-term prisoners

    123

 

           (3)           of that Act; and where the Secretary of State gives such a direction in

relation to an offender serving an extended sentence of detention under

section 210 of that Act the offender shall be treated as if he had been

sentenced under section 209 of that Act.

           (4)           Rules under section 47 of the Prison Act 1952 may provide that any

5

award for an offence against discipline made in respect of an offender

serving a relevant sentence of detention shall continue to have effect

after a direction under subsection (1) has been given in relation to him.

           (5)           In this section “relevant sentence of detention” means—

                  (a)                 a sentence of detention under section 90 or 91 above,

10

                  (b)                 a sentence of detention for public protection under section 208

of the Criminal Justice Act 2003, or

                  (c)                 an extended sentence of detention under section 210 of that

Act.”

Chapter 6

15

Release on licence of fixed-term prisoners

Preliminary

 219   Meaning of “fixed-term prisoner”

     (1)    In this Chapter “fixed-term prisoner” means—

           (a)            a person serving a sentence of imprisonment for a determinate term, or

20

           (b)           a person serving a determinate sentence of detention under section 91

of the Sentencing Act or under section 210 of this Act.

     (2)    In this Chapter, unless the context otherwise requires, “prisoner” includes a

person serving a sentence falling within subsection (1)(b); and “prison”

includes any place where a person serving such a sentence is liable to be

25

detained.

Power of court to recommend licence conditions

 220   Power of court to recommend licence conditions for certain prisoners

     (1)    A court which sentences an offender to a term of imprisonment of twelve

months or more in respect of any offence may, when passing sentence,

30

recommend to the Secretary of State particular conditions which in its view

should be included in any licence granted to the offender under this Chapter

on his release from prison.

     (2)    In exercising his powers under section 231(4)(b) in respect of an offender, the

Secretary of State must have regard to any recommendation under subsection

35

(1).

     (3)    A recommendation under subsection (1) is not to be treated for any purpose as

part of the sentence passed on the offender.

     (4)    This section does not apply in relation to a sentence of detention under section

91 of the Sentencing Act or section 210 of this Act.

40

 

 

 
previous section contents continue
 
House of Commons home page Houses of Parliament home page House of Lords home page search page enquiries

© Parliamentary copyright 2003
Revised 6 March 2003