Parole Hearings To Be Heard In Public For The First Time

Law Changes Mean Parole Hearings Can Now Be Heard In Public For The First Time

Victims, members of the public and the media will be able to ask for a parole hearing to be heard in public for the first time, following law changes.

From 21 July 2022, anyone including prisoners, victims, members of the public or the media will be able to ask the Board to hold a hearing in public and the Chair of the Parole Board will decide whether it is in the interests of justice to do so.

Parole Board Rule 15(3) has been amended to remove the previous requirement that all parole hearings must be heard in private. This will enable the Board to consider whether some hearings should be heard in public in some limited circumstances.

Considerations for the Hearing

These decisions will consider the welfare and interest of victims and reach a conclusion based on the ‘interests of justice’. This move follows calls for greater transparency after the decision to release black cab rapist John Worboys in 2018.

As to how many hearings are likely to be heard in public, the government has made this observation:

“Because of the sensitive nature of what is discussed, including offenders’ medical information and graphic accounts of their crimes, and the need to protect victims’ privacy it is expected that most hearings would not meet this test.”

Rule 24 provides powers for the panel chair to exclude any person from a hearing in the circumstances prescribed by the rule to facilitate the management and conduct of public hearings.

The wording of these rules has been drawn from those which already exist for the First Tier Tribunal (Mental Health).

How We Can Help

If you have any questions or concerns about any parole hearing in public and the implications of this, please contact us on 0161 477 1121 or email us.