Custodial sentences

Prison is only used for the most serious offences and offenders. As well as guideline decisions on the length of sentence laid down by the Court of Appeal, all offences where prison is the punishment have a maximum term laid down by Parliament.

Types of custodial sentence

Custodial sentencing options for adult offenders include:

mandatory or discretionary life sentence
determinate sentence of imprisonment
a public protection sentence, such as an indeterminate or an extended custodial sentence
suspended sentence

Custodial sentencing options for juvenile and young offenders are:

juvenile justice centre order
period of detention in a young offenders centre, which can be suspended

Life sentence

Offenders who are convicted of murder are automatically sentenced to life imprisonment and this is also the maximum penalty for some other very serious crimes.

There is no set period of custody for prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment. Prisoners serve a period which takes into account the need to

punish the individual offender
deter others from committing similar offences
protect the public from future harm

The court will set a life sentence tariff which is the minimum period the individual must serve before being considered for release by the Life Sentence Review Commissioners.

After release, a life sentence prisoner is on licence for life and may be returned to prison by the Department of Justice, if they are considered to be a risk to public safety.

Determinate sentence

A determinate sentence is a sentence of imprisonment for a period of time set by the court. Under Northern Ireland prison rules a prisoner receives remission (a discount) of up to half the length of the sentence on the grounds of good behaviour.

In practice, most prisoners (other than those serving a life sentence) are released from custody at the halfway point of their sentence. This is known as 50% remission.

Release on licence for sex offenders

An offender who gets a custodial sentence for a sexual offence may be released on licence. The court can order this to happen, and will require the offender to be supervised from the date of release until the date the full sentence would have ended. Conditions will be applied to the licence and the offender will be supervised by a probation officer during the time on licence. The court does not have to seek the offender's consent for this type of sentence.

Suspended sentence

The court may decide that a prison sentence is an appropriate punishment for the particular offence, but that the offender should not be sent to prison unless they are convicted of a further offence, within a given period.

Deferred sentence

This is when sentencing is postponed until a future court date. This is for a set period of up to six months for the Judge to see how the defendant behaves during that time period.

Custodial sentences for young offenders

Custodial sentencing options for juvenile and young offenders are a juvenile justice centre order or a period of detention in a Young Offenders Centre:

Young Offenders Centre

Offenders aged between 16 and 20 can be detained in a Young Offenders Centre if they commit an offence which, if someone 21 or over had of committed, would be punishable with imprisonment. The maximum term is four years.

Juvenile Justice Centre Order

Offenders under the age of 17 can be sentenced to a fixed period of between six months and two years, with half of the sentence served under close supervision in the community.