Terrorist Offenders (Restriction of Early Release) Act 2020

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 cleared all of the stages required for it to pass through the House of Commons, 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]

Terrorist Offenders (Restriction of Early Release) Act 2020
Act of Parliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Long titleAn 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.
Citation2020 c. 3
Territorial extent England & Wales, Scotland
Dates
Royal assent26 February 2020
Commencement26 February 2020
Other legislation
AmendsPrisoners 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Text of statute as originally enacted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

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
  1. "Emergency terror law presented to Parliament". BBC News. BBC. 11 February 2020. Retrieved 12 February 2020.
  2. Bowcott, Owen; Sabbagh, Dan (11 February 2020). "Urgent crackdown on terror sentences will affect about 50 inmates". The Guardian. Guardian Media Group. Retrieved 12 February 2020.
  3. "End to automatic early release of terrorists". GOV.UK. Retrieved 12 February 2020.
  4. 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.
  5. "Emergency law blocks automatic early release of 50 convicted terrorists". Metro. 26 February 2020. Retrieved 28 February 2020.


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