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The noble Lord said: My Lords, the arguments have been well rehearsed. I should have urged those who have the responsibility to implement this legislation, if it is ever implemented, to make sure that the courts set out clearly what sentencing is about.
One of the reasons that this legislation has come forward and one of the forces behind the so-called honesty in sentencing is that the Government have not given guidelines to judges to explain what are the current provisions. If that had been done, then perhaps all this legislation and these pieces of paper that we have been discussing would have been unnecessary. I beg to move.
Lord McIntosh of Haringey: My Lords, merely for the progress of business, I should point out that this amendment was grouped with Amendment No. 18.
Baroness Blatch: My Lords, that is correct but I oppose the amendment on the grounds that we do not support even earlier release than that proposed in the Bill.
Lord Thomas of Gresford: My Lords, I beg leave to withdraw the amendment.
Amendment No. 28, as an amendment to Amendment No. 27, by leave, withdrawn.
On Question, Amendment No. 27 agreed to.
Baroness Blatch moved Amendment No. 29:
Line 4, leave out ("five-sixths") and insert ("three-quarters").
After Clause 11, insert the following new clause--
(" .--(1) This section applies where an accused is remanded in custody in connection with one or more offences--
(a) which are alleged to have been committed after the commencement of this Chapter; and
(b) in respect of which he would be liable, if convicted, to a life sentence or to imprisonment for a term of more than two months.
(2) For the purpose of enabling early release days to be awarded on a provisional basis, subsections (2) and (3) of section 11 above shall have effect as if--
(a) the accused had been convicted of, or of an offence related to, the offence or any of the offences, and had been sentenced to imprisonment for a term of more than two months and less than three years, on the day on which he was remanded in custody;
(b) any days falling after that day for which he is not remanded in custody were disregarded; and
(c) references in that section to periods of two months were references to periods of 60 days.
(3) Subsections (4) to (6) below shall apply if, and only if, each of the following conditions is fulfilled, namely--
(a) the accused is convicted of, or of an offence related to, the offence or any of the offences;
(b) he is sentenced to imprisonment for a term of more than two months and less than three years; and
(c) a direction is given under section 9 above.
(4) For the purposes of section 11(4) above, any early release days provisionally awarded under subsection (2) above shall be treated as early release days awarded on the day on which the direction under section 9 above is given.
(5) For the purpose of securing that any days for which the accused was remanded in custody are taken into account in determining assessment periods for the purposes of section 11 above, that section shall have effect as if--
(a) the accused had been convicted and sentenced on the day on which he was remanded in custody;
(b) any days which fell before the day on which he was sentenced, and for which he was not remanded in custody, were disregarded; and
(c) references to periods of two months, in their application to periods beginning before that day, were references to periods of 60 days.
(6) If the direction under section 9 above is given in relation to a number of days less than that for which the accused was remanded in custody--
(a) subsection (4) above shall have effect as if the reference to any early release days provisionally awarded under subsection (2) above were a reference to the appropriate proportion of those days (rounded up to the nearest whole day); and
(b) subsection (5) above shall have effect as if the reference to days for which he was not remanded in custody included a reference to the complementary proportion of the days for which he was so remanded (rounded down to the nearest whole day).
(7) Where for any period the accused has been held in police detention, the prescribed person shall assume, for the purposes of section 11(2) and (3) above as modified by subsection (2) above, that during that period--
(a) the prisoner had been in prison; and
(b) his behaviour had attained, but not exceeded, the prescribed minimum standard for the purposes of that section.
(8) In this section--
"the appropriate proportion" means the proportion which the number of days in relation to which the direction under section 9 above is given bears to the number of days for which the accused was remanded in custody, and "the complementary proportion" shall be construed accordingly;
"life sentence" has the same meaning as in section 31 below;
"related", in relation to an offence, has the same meaning as in section 9 above;
and subsections (2), (9) and (10) of section 9 above shall apply for the purposes of this section as they apply for the purposes of that section.").
On Question, amendment agreed to.
Clause 12 [Award of additional days for disciplinary offences]:
Baroness Blatch moved Amendment No. 30:
On Question, amendment agreed to.
Clause 13 [Provisional awards for remand prisoners]:
Baroness Blatch moved Amendment No. 31:
Page 8, line 8, leave out ("entitled to be released") and insert--
("(a) entitled to be released under section 11 above; or
(b) eligible to be released under section (Release on Parole Board recommendation) above,").
Leave out Clause 13, and insert the following new clause--
(" .--(1) This section applies where an accused is remanded in custody in connection with one or more offences--
(a) which are alleged to have been committed after the commencement of this Chapter; and
(b) in respect of which he would be liable, if convicted, to a life sentence or to imprisonment for a term of more than two months.
(2) For the purpose of enabling additional days to be awarded on a provisional basis, prison rules made by virtue of section 12(1) above shall have effect as if the accused--
(a) had been convicted of, or of an offence related to, the offence or any of the offences; and
(b) had been sentenced to imprisonment for a term of more than two months, on the day on which he was remanded in custody.
(3) Subsections (4) and (5) below shall apply if, and only if, each of the following conditions is fulfilled, namely--
(a) the accused is convicted of, or of an offence related to, the offence or any of the offences;
(b) he is sentenced to imprisonment for a term of more than two months; and
(c) a direction is given under section 9 above.
(4) For the purposes of section 12(2) and (3) above, any additional days provisionally awarded under subsection (2) above shall be treated as additional days awarded on the day on which the direction under section 9 above is given.
(5) If the direction under section 9 above is given in relation to a number of days less than that for which the accused was remanded in custody, subsection (4) above shall have effect as if the reference to any additional days provisionally awarded under subsection (2) above were a reference to the appropriate proportion of those days (rounded up to the nearest whole day).
(6) In this section--
"the appropriate proportion" has the same meaning as in section (Provisional early release days for remand prisoners) above;
"life sentence" has the same meaning as in section 31 below;
"related", in relation to an offence, has the same meaning as in section 9 above;
and subsections (2), (9) and (10) of section 9 above shall apply for the purposes of this section as they apply for the purposes of that section.").
On Question, amendment agreed to.
[Amendments Nos. 32 and 33 not moved.]
Clause 14 [Release supervision orders]:
Baroness Blatch moved Amendment No. 34:
On Question, amendment agreed to.
Lord Belstead moved Amendment No. 35:
The noble Lord said: My Lords this is a provision in the Bill which says that the Parole Board shall hold oral hearings in order to make recommendations to the
There has been a great deal which I have said and put in writing to the Minister, and my noble friend has kindly replied. Therefore, I make one point only. I feel that the most important piece of information which is lacking about this matter is exactly how many oral hearings there will be. In a letter from my noble friend which was full of information, for which I am most grateful, she said that she was not sure but that probably the number would run into hundreds. Putting my slightly wettened finger up in the air to see where the wind is coming from, my noble friend and those advising her may discover that that is an underestimate. I say that because on the number of oral hearings rests the costs and the timeliness of the proceedings. The timeliness of the proceedings will be very important, as I believe my noble friend knows. I believe that the Prison Service would do well to try to make an accurate assessment as soon as it can of the number of oral hearings that would occur if this provision were brought into effect. Certainly, the Parole Board would seek to co-operate in an assessment of that kind. I beg to move.
Page 10, line 2, leave out ("served") and insert ("been liable to serve").
Page 10, line 12, leave out subsection (4).
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