Licence Recall Solicitors

Licence Recall Solicitors

Our expert Prison Law team at Reeds helps those on determinate or indeterminate sentences who are facing licence recalls. Those who have been out on licence may be recalled to prison for breaching the terms of their licence.

The process of licence recalls differs depending on the sentence. Determinate sentences (those with set dates for release) will have a Fixed Term Recall (FTR) or a Standard recall. Those who are serving indeterminate sentences and have been recalled must be seen by the Parole Board.

If this happens, it is vital you contact one of our solicitors immediately. We understand the urgency that comes with these situations and will act quickly to assist with your re-release on licence. If someone is experiencing a licence recall, it is vital you contact one of our licence recall solicitors immediately. We understand the urgency and stress licence recalls may cause and will act on your best interests.

Call us today on 01865 592670 to discuss your case or complete enquiry form on our contact page here. Alternatively please email prisonlaw@reeds.co.uk

Meet the team

How We Can Help

Our Prison Law Solicitors are some of the most experienced in the country. Many are also specialists in Criminal Defence law. We are instructed by people from across England and Wales and are known for our hard work, intelligence, and focus on protecting our clients’ best interests.

Regardless of what happened to result in you being held in custody, you have a series of fundamental human rights that must be observed. We are dedicated to ensuring our clients receive fair parole hearings and ‘nickings’ adjudications.

Although people aged between 18-25 are not sent to full adult prisons, they are often vulnerable. We provide expert advice and representation on all legal problems you may encounter in prison and explain things in plain English.

Our Prison Law Solicitors can help you with a full range of matters, including but not limited to sentence calculations, determinant and indeterminant recalls, independent adjudication, parole hearings, and more. Regardless of how complicated your case is, we can provide the expertise and experience you need.

We are regularly instructed to help people who have received incorrect Sentence Plans or sentence calculation issues. We understand it can be hard to challenge sentencing issues, especially if you are being denied Legal Aid because you have been told you have not exhausted all the complaint methods available within the prison system. You can be confident that we will swiftly spot any inaccuracies in your sentence calculation or Sentence Plan and robustly represent you to ensure matters are corrected.

Get in touch

Information is processed inline with UK GDPR and our Privacy Policy

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

FAQ

A licence is applied when someone who is still serving their sentence but is permitted to serve the remainder in the community but subject to licence conditions and the supervision of Probation. The point at which you will be released on licence will differ depending on your sentence.

When someone is granted a licence, there are specific conditions that are given with this licence. As the person on licence is still serving their prison sentence, breaching any of these conditions may result in being recalled back to the prison to serve the remainder of their sentence.

The circumstances after a recall and the circumstances that lead up to the recall are specific to each person. Therefore, it is imperative that you contact one of our licence recall solicitors immediately if a recall is happening.

For those serving life sentences, the licence will last the rest of their life. With IPP sentences, a person may be on licence indefinitely after being released from custody. It is possible to apply to the Parole Board to have the licence removed at certain stages.

For determinate sentences, the length of the licence depends on how long the sentence is and what type of sentence it is. The licence period may be the remainder of the sentence after being released from custody.

Licence conditions dictate the rules of the licence. Breaking these could result in being recalled to prison. The conditions will be outlined when a licence document is provided upon release.

The standard licence conditions (which apply to everyone on licence) are:

During the licence period they must:

    1. Be of good behaviour and not behave in a way which undermines the purpose of the licence period;

    1. Not commit any offence;

    1. Keep in touch with the supervising officer in accordance with instructions given by the supervising officer;

    1. Receive visits from the supervising officer in accordance with instructions given by the supervising officer;

    1. Reside permanently at an address approved by the supervising officer and obtain the prior permission of the supervising officer for any stay of one or more nights at a different address;

    1. Not undertake work, or a particular type of work, unless it is approved by the supervising officer and notify the supervising officer in advance of any proposal to undertake work or a particular type of work; and

    1. Not travel outside the United Kingdom, the Channel Islands, or the Isle of Man except with prior permission of your supervising officer or for the purposes of immigration deportation or removal

    1. Tell your supervising officer if you use a name which is different to the name or names which appear on your licence;

    1. Tell your supervising officer if you change or add any contact details, including phone number or email.

Both a FTR and Standard Recall apply to those serving determinate sentences. A Fixed Term Recall, which is of 28 days after an offender is released to automatically continue serving on a licence. This is usually for people that are classed as low or medium risk to the public. You cannot have a FTR if you are high risk.

A Standard recall means that the offender is liable to be held in prison until the end of their sentence. However, they may be referred to the Parole Board for a review of their detention and to ascertain whether they can be re-released on licence earlier.

The process of recall used to be very different depending whether you are a determinate or indeterminate sentence prisoner however, recently changes have been made which not only means that an indeterminate sentence prisoner can be considered for release on the papers without the need for a hearing but they are also subject to the Executive release (ER) provisions that determinate sentence prisoners are subject to.

The ER process if something that will run along on the background alongside the Parole review and means that the secretary of state will consider re-release without lengthy Parole Board involvement and the need for Oral Hearings.

For the recall review and for all sentences, a single member of the Parole Board will review the case on paper initially. The Parole Board can then release the prisoner based off of this alone, without the need for an oral hearing. Their review should take place 28 days after the prisoner is back in custody.

The re-release for somebody who has been recalled and refused release under the ER provisions, will fall to the Parole Board. They can make a number of decisions:-

    1. Member Case Assessment: a single member of the Parole Board will consider the case on the papers and consider whether there is enough information to make a decision. A written letter containing the decision will be sent at this stage.

    1. They can either direct release on the papers

    1. They can say that they require further information to make a decision and adjourn/defer the paper decision for further information

    1. They can direct the matter to be heard at an Oral hearing

    1. They can direct that you remain in custody.

    1. If there is a negative decision (outlined at d above), you will have 28 days in which to appeal this decision and request for an oral hearing. If this fails , you will remain in custody until either your next review or your sentence expiry date depending on your sentence type and how long you have left to serve.

Our team can assist with these applications and any of the recall process

It is imperative that you speak to one of our solicitors for help with re-release.