Parole
For prisoners serving sentences for offences committed before 4th April 2005, parole is applicable if the sentence is four years or longer. For prisoners serving sentences for offences committed on or after 4th April, parole is only applicable if the prisoner is serving a public protection sentence or a life sentence.
Other prisoners are automatically released at a certain date; see section above on Prison.
Parole is given on the basis of reports by prison and probation staff. The decision to give parole depends on many factors: the nature of a prisoner's offences, their home circumstances, their plans for release and their behaviour in prison.
Parole timetable
Six months before your parole eligibility date and thereafter annually you can apply for parole. About four months before that date you will have the opportunity to see any reports about you and make written statements stating why you believe you should get parole and what you will do on release.
A member of the Parole Board may interview you but this is no longer an automatic part of the parole process. About two months before you become eligible, a panel of Parole Board members will consider your case. They will focus primarily on the risk to the public of a further offence being committed if you were released. They will also consider the benefits of early release under supervision.
The parole decision
When a decision has been made a letter will be sent to the prison setting out the detailed reasons for the decision. You will be given a copy.
There is no right of appeal against a parole decision but there is a complaints procedure. Apart from a straight 'yes' or 'no' in response to a parole application, you may also be granted an early review or a special review. Special and early reviews will only be granted in exceptional circumstances, for example, to monitor a prisoner's progress on a drugs rehabilitation course or an employment course.