Parole Board for Scotland: CORPORATE PLAN 2002
CHAPTER 1 General
1 This is the third Corporate Plan prepared by The Parole Board for Scotland. The purpose of this Corporate Plan is to explain the Board's functions; how it proposes these should be fulfilled; the Board's objectives; and its performance targets. The Plan covers the years 2002/03, 2003/04 and 2004/05.
Statutory Powers and Functions
2. The Parole Board for Scotland exists under the provisions of the Prisons (Scotland) Act 1989, the Prisoners and Criminal Proceedings (Scotland) Act 1993 and the Convention Rights (Compliance) (Scotland) Act 2001.
3. The Board has powers to:
recommend the release of determinate sentence prisoners serving 4 years or more but less than 10 years and it may also make recommendations as to the licence conditions of such prisoners;
recommend the release of prisoners serving a determinate sentence of more than 10 years' imprisonment;
direct the release on life licence of life prisoners;
recommend the recall to custody of determinate sentence prisoners serving sentences of 4 years' imprisonment or more, life sentence prisoners who have been released on parole or life licence and extended sentence prisoners in circumstances where such action is considered to be in the public interest.
In the case of those prisoners sentenced to 4 years or more but less than 10 years, the Scottish Ministers are statutorily obliged to accept the Board's recommendations.
4. The Board may direct the Scottish Ministers to re-release any prisoner who has been recalled to custody without a recommendation of the Board or any prisoner who has been recalled with such a recommendation. The cases of life prisoners and extended sentence prisoners who are recalled to custody must be considered by a Tribunal of the Board.
5. The Board advises the Scottish Ministers on additional conditions to be attached to prisoners' release licences.
The Parole Board Rules
6. The Parole Board (Scotland) Rules 2001, set out the matters which may be taken into account by the Board in considering references by the Scottish Ministers. These are:-
the nature and circumstances of any offence of which that person has been convicted or found guilty by a court of law;
that person's conduct since the date of his/her current sentence(s);
the likelihood of that person committing any offence or causing harm to any other person if he/she were to be released on licence, remain on licence or be re-released on licence as the case may be;
what that person intends to do if he/she were to be released on licence, remain on licence or be re-released on licence, as the case may be, and the likelihood of his/her fulfilling those intentions; and
any written information or documents or written representations which the Scottish Ministers or the person concerned has sent to the Board or which the Board has otherwise obtained.
7. The Rules provide for prisoners having access to reports and other information contained in their review dossiers, with suitable safeguards in non-tribunal cases for the withholding of information that Scottish Ministers or the Board considers it would be damaging to disclose. The Rules also prescribe the procedures for Tribunals.
The Parole Board Membership
8. Schedule 2 of the Prisoners and Criminal Proceedings (Scotland) Act 1993 provides that the Board shall consist of a Chairman and not less that 4 other members appointed by the Scottish Ministers. The Board must include among its members:
a Lord Commissioner of Justiciary;
a registered medical practitioner who is a psychiatrist;
a person appearing to Scottish Ministers to have knowledge and experience of the supervision and aftercare of discharged prisoners; and
a person appearing to Scottish Ministers to have made a study of the causes of delinquency and the treatment of offenders.
9. At present the Board comprises a Chairman and 18 members. In terms of section 14(2) of the 2001 Rules, the powers of the Board may be exercised by any three members.
10. The membership of the Board as at January 2002 is detailed at Annex 1.