Sections 260 and 261 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 allow for the removal of determinate sentence foreign national prisoners for the purposes of immediate deportation. Section 260(1) provides that where a fixed-term prisoner is liable to removal from the United Kingdom, the Secretary of State may remove the prisoner from prison under that section at any time after the prisoner has served the minimum pre-removal custodial period. The minimum pre-removal custodial period is currently the longer of one third of the requisite custodial period and the requisite custodial period less 4 years (section 260(2)). The Secretary of State has a power under secondary legislation (under the affirmative procedure) to amend the time periods which determine the minimum pre-removal custodial period and the percentage of the sentence that has to be served before removal, but not to remove the requirement that an offender serve a minimum pre-removal custodial period (section 260(6)).
	The Criminal Justice Act 2003 (Removal of Prisoners for Deportation) Order 2025 was laid in Parliament on 25 June 2025, and came into force on 23 September 2025. The Order increased the maximum removal period so that eligible offenders can be removed from prison for the purpose of deportation earlier in their sentence.
	This Act removes the requirement that that an offender serve a minimum pre-removal custodial period and provides that there be no maximum removal period before an eligible offender can be removed, so an offender can be removed any time after sentencing.
	Subsection 2C of section 260 confirms that the section does not apply to a prisoner to whom section 247A applies. Section 247A deals with restricted eligibility for release on licence of terrorist prisoners and requires terrorist offenders to serve two thirds of their sentence before being considered for release.
Legal background Part 2: Management of offenders after sentencing Early Removal of prisoners liable to removal from the United Kingdom