Current release provisions, set out in Part 2 of the CJA 2003, require that most offenders serving standard determinate sentences of imprisonment ("SDS"), and all who are serving an SDS of less than four years in length, must be released at the halfway point of their sentence (the ‘conditional release date’).
	The Home Detention Curfew ("HDC") scheme, which became available in 1999 following the passing of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998, enables certain offenders to be released ahead of this halfway point. Section 246 of the CJA 2003 gives the Secretary of State a discretionary power to release offenders on licence where certain eligibility requirements are met and subject to an electronically monitored curfew. Those released on HDC must serve at least a quarter of their sentence and a minimum of 28 days before release and certain offenders are excluded from or presumed unsuitable for the scheme. The maximum period of HDC is currently 180 days
Legal background Home detention curfew