Part 7: Sentencing and release Chapter 1: Custodial sentences Section 146: Sentences and offences in respect of which polygraph conditions may be imposed
Section 146 amends section 28 of the Offender Management Act 2007, which provides for certain offenders to have a condition included in their licence on release requiring them to undergo polygraph testing. Currently the section applies only to sex offenders, domestic abuse perpetrators and terrorist offenders.
	Paragraph (a) restates the types of custodial sentence that make an offender eligible for a polygraph condition, being custodial sentence of life or a term of 12 months of more. The new wording will ensure, in particular, that all custodial sentences passed by a service court or a court in Scotland or Northern Ireland will be caught. While section 28 extends only to England and Wales, service offenders sentenced to imprisonment generally serve their sentences in England and Wales, and offenders convicted in Scotland or Northern Ireland may be transferred to England and Wales to serve their sentences.
	Paragraph (b) clarifies the definition of relevant sexual offence for offenders convicted in Scotland and Northern Ireland, following the repeal of the relevant Schedules, and extends the definition of relevant sexual offence for those convicted in England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland to include offences listed in Schedule 3 to the 2003 Act.
	Schedule 3 to the 2003 Act contains references to length, type of sentence and age of offender, as well as the offence committed. Paragraph (c) prevents these references from being taking into account in determining whether an offence is a ‘relevant sexual offence’.
	Armed forces legislation provides for acts that are, or would be, offences under English and Welsh law to be prosecuted as "service offences". Paragraph (f) provides for such service offences to be treated in the same way as the underlying offence in English and Welsh law for the purposes of section 28. Paragraphs (d) and (e) remove similar provision, to be inserted by the Counter-Terrorism and Sentencing Act 2021, relating specifically to terrorism cases (which will be superseded).