Prison Act 1952

25Remission for good conduct and release on licence of persons sentenced to terms of imprisonment

(1)Rules made under section forty-seven of this Act may make provision whereby, in such circumstances as may be prescribed by the rules, a person serving a sentence of imprisonment for such a term as may be so prescribed may be granted remission of such part of that sentence as may be so prescribed on the ground of his industry and good conduct, and on the discharge of a person from prison in pursuance of any such remission as aforesaid his sentence shall expire.

(2)If it appears to the Prison Commissioners that a person serving a sentence of imprisonment was under the age of twenty-one years at the commencement of his sentence, they may direct that instead of being granted remission of his sentence under the rules he shall, at any time on or after the day on which he could have been discharged if the remission had been granted, be released on licence under the following provisions of this section.

(3)A person released on licence under this section shall until the expiration of his sentence be under the supervision of such society or person as may be specified in the licence and shall comply with such other requirements as may be so specified:

Provided that the Prison Commissioners may at any time modify or cancel any such requirements.

(4)If before the expiration of his sentence the Prison Commissioners are satisfied that a person released as aforesaid has failed to comply with any requirement for the time being specified in the licence, they may by order recall him to a prison; and thereupon he shall be liable to be detained in prison until the expiration of his sentence and, if at large, shall be deemed to be unlawfully at large.

(5)The Prison Commissioners may release on licence a person detained in a prison under the last preceding subsection at any time before the expiration of his sentence; and subsections (3) and (4) of this section shall apply in the case of a person released under this subsection as they apply in the case of a person released under subsection (2) thereof.

(6)Where the unexpired part of the sentence of a person released under subsection (2) of this section is less than six months, subsections (3) to (5) of this section shall apply to him subject to the following modifications—

(a)the period for which he is under supervision under subsection (3) and is liable to recall under subsection (4) shall be a period of six months from the date of his release under the said subsection (2);

(b)if he is recalled under subsection (4) the period for which he may be detained thereunder shall be whichever is the shorter of the following, that is to say—

(i)the remainder of the said period of six months ;

or

(ii)the part of his sentence which was unexpired on the date of his release under the said subsection (2), reduced by any time during which he has been so detained since that date;

and he may be released on licence under subsection (5) at any time before the expiration of that period.

(7)For the purposes of this section, a person committed to prison in default of payment of a sum adjudged to be paid by a conviction shall be treated as undergoing a sentence of imprisonment for the term for which he is committed, and consecutive terms of imprisonment shall be treated as one term.