Terrorist Offenders (Restriction of Early Release) Act 2020
| Act of Parliament | |
 | |
| Long title | An Act to make provision about the release on licence of offenders convicted of terrorist offences or offences with a terrorist connection; and for connected purposes. |
|---|---|
| Citation | 2020 c. 3 |
| Territorial extent | England & Wales, Scotland |
| Dates | |
| Royal assent | 26 February 2020 |
| Commencement | 26 February 2020 |
| Other legislation | |
| Amends | Prisoners and Criminal Proceedings (Scotland) Act 1993 Powers of Criminal Courts (Sentencing) Act 2000 Criminal Justice Act 2003 Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 |
Status: Current legislation | |
| History of passage through Parliament | |
| Text of statute as originally enacted | |
| Revised text of statute as amended | |
The Terrorist Offenders (Restriction of Early Release) Act 2020 (c. 3) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that makes legal provision for ending the practice of releasing individuals convicted of terrorism offences from prison after they have served half of their custodial sentence. The original bill was introduced on 11 February 2020, a week after the Streatham stabbing in south London, the perpetrator of which had been released from prison ten days before the incident. The legislation applies to those convicted of terrorism offences in England, Scotland and Wales.[1][2][3] On 12 February, the bill was introduced as emergency legislation, and cleared all of the stages required for it to pass through the House of Commons on the same day, doing so without the need for a vote.[4] On 26 February, the act received assent and went into effect, immediately preventing the automatic release of 50 convicted terrorists.[5]
On 12 February, former Prime Minister Theresa May voiced concerns about the rehabilitation of such offenders, saying that although the government is "right" to address the early release issue, "terrorist offenders will still be released at some point. That is why the issue of rehabilitation, the work that is done both in prison and when they are out of prison is so important".[4]
References
- ^ "Emergency terror law presented to Parliament". BBC News. BBC. 11 February 2020. Retrieved 12 February 2020.
- ^ Bowcott, Owen; Sabbagh, Dan (11 February 2020). "Urgent crackdown on terror sentences will affect about 50 inmates". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 February 2020.
- ^ "End to automatic early release of terrorists". GOV.UK. Retrieved 12 February 2020.
- ^ a b Cowburn, Ashley (12 February 2020). "Streatham attack: Bill stopping early release of jailed terrorists passes unopposed in Commons". The Independent. Independent Print Limited. Retrieved 12 February 2020.
- ^ "Emergency law blocks automatic early release of 50 convicted terrorists". Metro. 26 February 2020. Retrieved 28 February 2020.
