Commentary on Sections Part 12 - Sentencing Chapter 6: Release of Prisoners on Licence Section 246: Power to release prisoners on licence before required to do so
576.This section relates to home detention curfew (HDC). The Crime and Disorder Act 1998 amended the Criminal Justice Act 1991 so that certain categories of prisoner, after being risk assessed, could spend the last part of their custodial sentence on HDC. HDC operates as a transitional phase immediately after leaving prison. Under the existing law in section 34A of the Criminal Justice Act 1991, an offender can be released up to 135 days early if he is assessed as suitable for HDC by the Prison Service. A curfew is imposed and the offender is monitored electronically to ensure he keeps to the terms of the curfew. If he violates the curfew or any standard condition of his licence (such as being of good behaviour) he is recalled to prison. HDC came into operation in 1999. Since that time there have been over 80,000 participants (around 3500 at any one time). The successful completion rate of HDC is 90%. The curfew condition is dealt with in section 253.
577.Subsection (1) maintains the maximum period available for HDC at 135 days. Subsection (6)also gives the Secretary of State the power to amend by order the period available for HDC. Not all prisoners are eligible for release under the HDC scheme. Those ineligible include prisoners serving one of the sentences applicable to dangerous offenders, and prisoners who are liable to deportation. Also, prisoners who have less than 14 days to serve of their required custodial period following sentence (e.g. due to remand time being deducted from the required custodial period) are not eligible for HDC. Ineligible categories are specified in subsection (4). Subsections (1), (2) and (3) have the effect of providing for the period spent on HDC to be tapered according to the length of sentence. Subsection (1)(b) provides for prisoners serving a sentence of intermittent custody. As with normal prison sentences, on intermittent custody the offender will spend a number of days on HDC equal to the days he would have spent in custody had he not received HDC.