Research needed ahead of early release changes, Society claims

Long-term prisoners will not be reintegrated into the community or be less likely to reoffend if they are only freed on licence six months before the end of their sentence, the Law Society of Scotland warned today.

The Society renewed its call for research into the effects of early release, ahead of the stage 3 debate of the Prisoners (Control of Release) (Scotland) Bill in the Scottish Parliament tomorrow (23 June), which as now amended, seeks to curtail for all long-term prisoners the present automatic early release after two thirds of their sentence, to release on licence six months ahead of the end date.

Prisoners serving more than four years are classed as long-term prisoners. Originally the bill was to apply only to sex offenders and those serving more than 10 years.

Douglas Thomson, solicitor advocate and member of the Society’s Criminal Law Committee said: “We are of course supportive of the policy intentions behind this bill, which are to enhance public protection and encourage the engagement of prisoners with rehabilitation programmes. However, this is potentially the most radical change in custodial sentencing for 22 years, and we are concerned at the lack of evidence supporting the need to end automatic early release.

“Prior to the introduction of the parole system 22 years ago, Lord Kincraig conducted a 14-month review, and it is concerning that no similar inquiry has been undertaken in this case.

“For example, under the new legislation, a long-term prisoner serving a 20 year sentence would be released at 19 years and six months, to serve the last six months in the community on licence. This in our view is a wholly inadequate length of time to facilitate a successful reintegration into society, and the sanction of being returned to prison if they breach any of the conditions, for a matter of a few weeks, is, in our view not necessarily a deterrent to reoffend. In order to reduce the risk of reoffending, a properly resourced rehabilitation programme, followed by a proportionally substantial period of reintegration into the community, is the best way to deter people from a return to criminal offending.”