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When offenders can be released
Long-term offenders
Offenders sentenced to 4 years or more, are considered for parole by the Parole Board at the halfway point of their sentence. The Parole Board may decide to release them at that stage or any time between then and the two-thirds stage of their sentence when they must, by law, be released.
These offenders are always released subject to the terms of a release licence (with conditions set on recommendation of the Parole Board) and supervision in the community until the end of their sentence by a Criminal Justice social worker of the local authority where they intend to live upon release. The licence, and any conditions attached to it, will no longer apply after the end of the sentence.
If an offender sentenced to 4 years or more has been granted parole from the halfway point of their sentence, then they may be released on Home Detention Curfew or HDC for the period between the parole decision and the date before their parole begins. In practice this is likely to be around 6 weeks, although it could be up to 10 weeks. (See page 9 for more information on HDC.)
Short-term extended sentence offenders
Some offenders are given an extended sentence. This is made up of a period of imprisonment and an extended period under supervision in the community (the extension period). If the total of the period of imprisonment and the extension period is less than 4 years, the offender is classed as a short-term extended sentence offender.
A short-term extended sentence offender sentenced to a term of imprisonment of less than 4 years will automatically be released at the halfway point of that term. They will still be released under the terms of a release licence (with conditions set by the Parole Board) and supervision in the community by a Criminal Justice social worker of the local authority where they intend to live upon release. The licence runs until the expiry of the extension period of the sentence. The licence, and any conditions attached to it, will no longer apply after the end of the extension period.
For example, an offender receives an extended sentence comprising a term of imprisonment of 2 years and an extension period of one year. The offender will automatically be released after serving one year in prison. He will then be on licence in the community for the remaining year, plus the full one-year extension period. The licence and any conditions attached to it will expire at the end of the extension period, i.e. 3 years after the sentence was imposed.
Long-term extended sentence offenders
Some offenders receive an extended sentence in which the period of imprisonment is 4 years or more. These offenders will be eligible to be considered for parole at the halfway point of the period of imprisonment, but must be released automatically at the two-thirds point if they have not previously been released. In either case they will be on licence with conditions set by the Parole Board for the remainder of their sentence, including the extension period, in the same way that short-term extended sentence offenders are.
Short-term sex offenders
Short-term sex offenders who are sentenced to between 18 months and 4 years are released automatically at the halfway point of their sentence but will remain on licence under supervision in the community until the expiry of the sentence. Licence conditions are set by the Scottish Ministers.
Offenders sentenced to life imprisonment
When an offender is sentenced to life imprisonment, the Judge sets a minimum period during which the offender must remain in prison. This is known as the "punishment part" of their sentence. This is announced in court at the same time as the sentence is passed. A life sentence prisoner can only be considered for release once they have completed the "punishment part" of the sentence. Life sentence prisoners can only be released on the direction of a life prisoner tribunal of the Parole Board. The tribunal will only direct release if it considers that the offender does not present an unacceptable risk to the public. Life sentence prisoners are always released subject to the terms of a life licence (conditions set by the Parole Board) and supervision in the community by a Criminal Justice social worker of the local authority where they intend to live upon release.
Child offenders
When a child offender who has been sentenced by a court to detention for a serious offence is released, they are always released on a licence regardless of the length of their sentence. In most cases an offender who is under the age of 16 is classed as a child. If, however, the offender has been convicted of murder, or if they are under the supervision of the local authority when convicted, they will be classed as a child until they reach the age of 18.
Recalls to custody
An offender (including a young offender), who does not comply with the terms of their release licence in the community, is liable to be sent back to prison (recalled to custody), possibly for the remainder of their sentence.
Appeals
Offenders can appeal against their conviction or the length of the sentence imposed. If this happens, an offender can be released on bail called "interim liberation" until a decision on the appeal is made. This can happen quite quickly if the offender is granted leave (allowed) to appeal but the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service will notify you of this as soon as possible.
Home Detention Curfew
Certain long-term offenders may be released on Home Detention Curfew or HDC for the period between the Parole Board decision to grant parole and the date their period on parole is due to begin. Only those offenders who have been granted parole on their first application, at the halfway point of their sentence can be considered for HDC release by the Scottish Prison Service. The decision to grant parole must be made before any decision regarding release on HDC can be made. This means that the period of HDC will usually be between 6 and 10 weeks. There are some other restrictions; offenders released on HDC licence will be subject to a curfew condition which requires them to stay within a specific address for around 12 hours every night. The Scottish Prison Service will carry out a risk assessment of an offender before he or she is allowed to be released on HDC. Compliance with the curfew condition is monitored remotely by means of electronic equipment or devices (a "tag").
Certain categories of offenders, e.g. sex offenders, extended sentence offenders and those who have previously been recalled from licence, are excluded from the scheme and will not be considered for release on HDC.
Offenders on HDC will continue to serve their sentence during the period on HDC and could be recalled to prison if they do not comply with the conditions.
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