Parole and Life Licence

In England and Wales prisoners serving determinate sentences of more than 12 months become eligible for consideration for release on parole licence when they have served one-third of the sentence, or six months, which expires the later. (In Scotland they also qualify after 12 months.) About three-quarters of prisoners serving sentences of over five years for violence and drug trafficking parole is granted only in exceptional circumstances, or otherwise for a few months at the end of the sentence. The parole licence remains in force until the date on which the prisoner would otherwise have been released from prison. It prescribes the conditions, including the maintenance of contact with a supervising officer, with which the offender must comply. In 1987 about 5.2 per cent of prisoners granted parole in England and Wales, and virtually none in Scotland, were recalled to prison. Parole is not available in Northern Ireland, which has more generous remission terms.

The release of prisoners serving life sentences is at the discretion of the Home Secretary or in Scotland the Secretary of State for Scotland, subject to a favourable recommendation by the Parole Board or the Parole Board for Scotland and after consultation with the judiciary. The Secretaries of State are not, however, bound to accept such a recommendation for release, nor are they bound by the views of the judiciary. At the discretion of the Home Secretary, people serving life sentences for the murder of police and prison officers, terrorist murders, murder by fire-arms in the course of robbery and the sexual or sadistic murder of children are normally detained for at least 20 years. At the end of 1987 there were about 2,400 life sentence prisoners detained in prisons in England and Wales of whom about 140 had been detained for 15 years or more. On release, life sentence prisoners remain on licence for the rest of their lives and are subject to recall should their behaviour suggest that they might again be a danger to the public. In Northern Ireland the Secretary of State reviews life sentence cases on the recommendation of an internal review body in such a way as to reflect their gravity and to take account of Northern Ireland's special circumstances.

Children in Trouble

The age of criminal responsibility in England and Wales is ten years and it is not possible to bring criminal proceedings against children below this age. Children between the ages of 10 and 17 charged with committing a criminal offence may be brought before a court, usually a juvenile court. A local authority may bring a child of any age under the age of 17 to a juvenile court in a procedure known as care proceedings if, for example, it suspects that he or she is in moral danger or beyond the control of his or her parents. Under both care and criminal proceedings a court may make a care order or a supervision order or, if the parents, consent, an order requiring them to exercise proper care or control over the child. Before an order may be made in care proceedings or a care order made in criminal proceedings, it must be shown that the child is in need of care or control, which he or she is unlikely to receive unless the order is made.

Under a care order a local authority becomes responsible for deciding where the child should be accommodated. It may allow him or her to remain at home under supervision or place him or her with foster parents or in a voluntary or community home. For children too severely disturbed or disruptive to be treated in local authority homes, there are two special Youth Treatment Centres run by the Department of Health. The authority must review each care order every six months and consider whether an application should be made to the court to end it, the order normally expires when the child reaches 18 or 19. When a child who is already under a care order as a result of an offence commits a further offence (for which an adult could be punished by imprisonment) a court may attach a charge and control condition to the order. This suspends for up to six months the local authority's discretion to place the child in his or her own home, but does not oblige the authority to place the child in a community home. The local authority may, for example, place the child with foster parents.

Under a supervision order (which may remain in force for not more than three years) a child normally lives at home under the supervision of a social worker or a probation officer, though the court may require him or her to live with a specified person. The court has power to require that the child comply with directions given by his or her supervisor or, in criminal proceedings, with requirements made by the court itself. By either of these means, the supervision order can be used to provide for a programme of 'Intermediate treatment', consisting of participation, under a supervisor, in a variety of constructive and remedial activities through a short residential course or, more usually, attendance at a day or evening centre.

In criminal proceedings, the courts may order payment of compensation, or impose a fine or grant a conditional or absolute discharge. Payment of fines, compensation or costs incurred by juvenile offenders is normally the responsibility of their parents or guardians. Offenders, both boys and girls, may be ordered to spend a total of up to 24 hours of their Saturday leisure time (up to three hours on any one occasion) at an attendance centre. The centres, which provide physical education and instruction in practical subjects, are for those found guilty of offences for which older people could be sent to prison. Offenders aged 16 may be ordered to perform up to 120 hours of community service.

Boys aged between 14 and 16, for whom a non-custodial sentence would not be appropriate, may be sent to a young offender institution; for those aged 14 the period is between three weeks and four months and for those aged 15 or 16 the maximum is 12 months. Girls aged 14 may not be so detained and there is no provision for custodial sentences of four months or less for girls aged 15 or 16. In the case of a very serious crime, detention in a place approved by the Home Secretary may be ordered and must be ordered in the case of homicide.