Part 1: Counter-terrorism Chapter 2: Punishment and management of terrorist offenders Section 11: Extended sentences for terrorism offenders: Northern Ireland
This section amends provisions in Part 2 of the 2008 Order which, amongst other things, enables a criminal court in Northern Ireland to impose an extended sentence of imprisonment ("extended custodial sentence" ("ECS")) on a sex or violent offender when certain conditions are met (article 14).
	Under the 2008 Order, certain serious sexual and violent offenders judged by the courts, under article 14, to be likely to commit further similar offences in the future can receive an ECS. An ECS is a sentence of imprisonment which is equal to the aggregate of "the appropriate custodial term", which must be at least one year, and a further period (the extension period) for which the offender is to be subject to a licence. The total term of the sentence must not exceed the maximum penalty available for the offence.
	The extension period is set by the courts and must not exceed five years for violent offences or eight years for sexual offences, but must be a period considered necessary for the purpose of protecting members of the public from further serious offences. Offenders serving an ECS will be referred to the Parole Commissioners for Northern Ireland approximately six months prior to the mid-point of their sentence and must demonstrate that they can be safely released into the community. If the Parole Commissioners direct release the offender will remain on licence for the remainder of the custodial term as well as the extension period set by the court.
Extended Custodial Sentences - example
Person A is convicted of an offence contrary to section 58A of the 2000 Act (eliciting, publishing or communicating information about members of the armed forces etc); as a result of sections 6 and 10 the maximum penalty for that offence will be 15 years’ imprisonment and the offence will be one which may result in an Extended Custodial Sentence.
The court considers the offender dangerous under the test set out article 15 of the 2008 Order and sentences the offender to an ECS.  The ECS sentence is for 15 years.  The sentence is made up of a custodial period of 9 years and a 6 year extension period. This means the offender will spend 4½ years in custody (half of the custodial period) before being considered for release by the Parole Commissioners for Northern Ireland.  The Parole Commissioners may decide to release the offender between the 4½ and 9 year point. If the Parole Commissioners do not release the offender during that period he will automatically be released at the end of the 9 year custodial period.
If released before the 9 year point the offender will spend the remainder of the custodial period on licence in the community plus the extension period.  In other words, if the offender is released by the Parole Commissioners after 4½ years he will spend 4½ years (the rest of the custodial term) on licence followed by a further 6 years (the extension period), a total of 10½ years, on licence. If the offender is not released by the Parole Commissioners and is released at the end of his 9 year custodial period he will spend 6 years on licence.
	Currently the list of relevant violent offences for the purpose of the ECS regime in Part 1 of Schedule 2 to the 2008 Order includes a number of terrorism offences. Paragraph 14 of Schedule 4 removes those offences from Part 1 and subsection (4) of this section then places them in a new Part 3 (specified terrorism offences) along with the additional terrorist offences listed in paragraph 69 above.
	Amendments to articles 12 and 14 of the 2008 Order (made by subsections (2) and (3)) provide that the ECS regime, with an extended licence period of up to eight years, applies to the offences in the new Part 3.