Represent yourself at a parole review oral hearing
How to represent yourself at a parole review hearing, for prisoners on indeterminate sentence who don't have a lawyer.
Applies to England and Wales
You can choose to represent yourself at a Parole Board oral hearing, instead of appointing a lawyer. This guide explains what you should do at each stage of the parole review process.
Who can represent or support you
You can choose to have someone else at the hearing to represent or support you. Anyone can represent you except for someone who:
-
is detained or liable to be detained under the Mental Health Act
-
is in prison
-
is on licence having been released from prison
-
hasn’t served their prison sentence for a conviction
You could ask a friend, family member, prison visitor or chaplain to represent you or give you advice and support. If you ask a family member or friend, check that they will be allowed into the prison.
You could also contact the Prisoners’ Advice Service:
Email: advice@prisonersadvice.org.uk
Phone: 020 7253 3323 or 0845 430 8923
Prisoners' Advice Service
PO Box 46199
London
EC1M 4XA
If you’re aged 21 or under you can also contact the Howard League for Penal Reform helpline:
Phone: 0808 801 0308
The parole review process
You’ll get a letter telling you that your parole review has begun. You need to fill in the ‘prisoner’s reply form’ which comes with the letter. It’s important to say on the form that you want your case to be heard at an oral hearing and why.
You’ll normally get the letter 6 months before your case is due for review.
The prison will then begin to compile a dossier of information about you for the Parole Board. This will include:
-
reports written by prison and probation staff
-
details of your previous sentencing
-
remarks made by the judge when you were sentenced
Your dossier may also include prison security reports and relevant information from healthcare staff (eg your psychologist).
The dossier should be ready 8 weeks after you got the letter telling you about your review. At that stage you can read all the documents.
You should then write to the Parole Board saying why you think you should be released or transferred to open conditions. This is known as a ‘written representation’, and is your chance to tell them about what you’ve done in prison and if any information in the dossier is wrong.
Bear in mind the following things that the Parole Board will consider when making its decision.
How the Parole Board makes a decision
The Parole Board will assess the risk you would pose to the public if you were released from prison or transferred to open conditions.
The panel will consider:
-
what you’ve done in prison to reduce that risk
-
what you’ve done to change the attitudes and behaviour that led to your offences (eg if you’ve taken an anger management course)
-
your awareness of how your behaviour has affected the victims of your crimes
-
your behaviour and progress in prison
-
if there are any medical, psychiatric or psychological considerations in your case
If your review is to decide whether you can be released from prison, the panel will also consider:
-
your attitude to licence conditions and if you’re likely to comply with them
-
plans for your release and supervision in the community
To decide if you can be transferred from a closed prison to open conditions, the panel will take into account whether:
-
they can be sure the public won’t be harmed if you’re in the community, unsupervised, on a temporary release from the open prison
-
you’re likely to keep to any licence conditions when you’re on temporary release
-
you’re likely to abscond from the open prison
The preliminary decision
A member of the Parole Board will consider your case 3 months before your case is due for review. They will look at all the papers in the dossier and your written representation.
The Parole Board member will either decide whether:
- you should stay in prison
- your case needs an oral hearing
If they decide on an oral hearing, they will include ‘directions’. Directions are a list of witnesses and extra information that the member feels are needed to make sure you have a fair hearing.
If you’re told that you should stay in prison, you have a month to write to the Parole Board and ask for an oral hearing. Give the reasons why you think you should have one.
The directions
If your case goes to an oral hearing, you’ll get a copy of the directions (the list of witnesses and extra information needed for the hearing). Read them carefully and ask a member of prison staff or a friend to explain them if you don’t understand them.
If you want the Parole Board to make any other directions (eg you might want to ask for another witness or for permission for a family member to observe the hearing) you should ask them in writing.
The Parole Board will confirm the date for the oral hearing 2 months before your case is due for review.
Preparing for the oral hearing
To get ready for the hearing:
-
Read through the dossier that the prison has prepared.
-
Think about what the panel is likely to ask you. Bear in mind the things the panel has to consider when making its decisions, including how they assess the risk that you would pose to the public if you were released.
-
Think about the main points you want to make to the panel and plan any questions you want to ask witnesses. The panel chair will make sure that you are given the chance to ask questions.
-
Ask a friend, adviser or the Parole Board if you need help to present your case effectively, eg if you need an interpreter or you have a learning disability.
Who attends the hearing
The hearing will be attended by:
-
you - the prisoner
-
your representative - if you have one
-
the panel - usually 3 members of the Parole Board, with 1 acting as the chair
-
witnesses - eg your offender manager, a prison officer, psychologist or a prison chaplain
There may also be an observer - someone allowed to observe the hearing but not take part in it.
You can say if you don’t want any observers to attend. The panel will make the final decision.
Sometimes, the victim of your crime or their family may want to come to the hearing and read out a personal statement. This usually happens at the start of a hearing, and they leave straight afterwards.
You don’t have to be there when they read their statement if you don’t want to. Your wishes will be taken into account.
What happens at the hearing
At the start of the hearing, the panel chair will introduce everyone and explain what will happen. Ask them to explain anything you don’t understand.
They will then call you and the witnesses one by one to give evidence. You don’t have to give evidence if you don’t want to, but remember that the panel needs to be convinced that you’re suitable for release or a transfer to open conditions.
The panel will ask you and your witnesses questions, to fill in any gaps in the evidence or to investigate issues in more detail. You will also be able to question the witnesses.
Once everyone has given evidence, the panel will usually ask if you want to make any final comments before you leave.
The decision
The panel will carefully consider all the information in the dossier and the evidence shared at the hearing and make its decision.
The Parole Board will make a decision within 2 weeks of the hearing and will send you a letter explaining the reasons for the decision.
If you are unhappy with the decision
You are strongly advised to seek legal advice about your options if you disagree with or think there was a mistake with your parole decision.
Ask the Parole Board to reconsider the decision
If you think the decision was flawed, you can ask the Parole Board to reconsider the decision.
You will need to do this within 21 calendar days of the date of the decision, explaining why you believe the decision was unreasonable, unfair or irrational.
A member of the Parole Board will look at the original decision and decide whether it was lawfully made.
Find out how to challenge a parole decision.
Apply for a judicial review
If the Parole Board refuses to reconsider the decision you can apply to the High Court for judicial review.
A judicial review must be brought within 3 months of the decision you want to challenge. However, before you apply to the High Court you must write a ‘pre-action’ letter to the Parole Board’s legal adviser explaining why you think the decision was unlawful:
Email: litigation@paroleboard.gov.uk
Litigation Team
Parole Board for England and Wales
Floor 3
10 South Colonnade
Canary Wharf
London
E14 4PU
The Parole Board will then consider if your case should be considered by a new panel. If you disagree with their decision you can ask the High Court for a judicial review.
A member of the judiciary will review the decision and decide whether it was lawfully made.
If the High Court agrees the Parole Board’s decision was unreasonable, unfair or irrational, it has the power to quash, or cancel, that decision.
Secretary of State directions
The Parole Board must follow these directions when considering life sentence prisoners for transfer to open conditions.
Secretary of State’s directions to the Parole Board, August 2004
Parole Board Rules
When conducting parole reviews, the Parole Board follows the Parole Board Rules made by the Secretary of State.
The current version of the rules is the Parole Board Rules 2011, which came into force on 3 January 2012.
The Parole Board Rules 2004 and the amended 2009 version have been revoked.
Updates to this page
Published 30 July 2014Last updated 22 July 2019 + show all updates
-
Content updated to reflect new legal method of challenging a parole decision.
-
First published.