Parole Board Oral Hearings 2016 - Exploring the Barriers to Release: Avoiding or Managing Risks? Report of a Pilot Study

63 Pages Posted: 4 Dec 2017 Last revised: 21 Feb 2018

See all articles by Nicola Padfield

Nicola Padfield

University of Cambridge - Institute of Criminology; University of Cambridge - Faculty of Law

Date Written: November 1, 2016

Abstract

This is the report of a pilot study into oral hearings of the Parole Board carried out in the summer of 2016. It was an observational study of 19 cases listed for hearing by video-link at the Parole Board’s headquarters in the summer of 2016, alongside interviews with Parole Board members. The report discusses these cases in the context of the academic and legal literature. It reaches no clear conclusions, but identifies areas for future research. A more ‘independent’ and ‘court-like’ Parole Board might focus more on releasing post-tariff prisoners, and create a culture of urgency which penalises delays. (It should be read in conjunction with the Stage Two Report, submitted in May 2017. Both reports were originally confidential to the Parole Board but the Board agreed in November 2017 that they could be put in the public domain.)

Keywords: parole, probation, offender management, criminal justice, penal system, penology, oral hearings, conditional release

Suggested Citation

Padfield, Nicola, Parole Board Oral Hearings 2016 - Exploring the Barriers to Release: Avoiding or Managing Risks? Report of a Pilot Study (November 1, 2016). University of Cambridge Faculty of Law Research Paper No. 62/2017, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3081035 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3081035

Nicola Padfield (Contact Author)

University of Cambridge - Institute of Criminology ( email )

7 West Road
Cambridge, England
United Kingdom

University of Cambridge - Faculty of Law ( email )

10 West Road
Cambridge, CB3 9DZ
United Kingdom

Do you have a job opening that you would like to promote on SSRN?

Paper statistics

Downloads
344
Abstract Views
2,168
Rank
181,257
PlumX Metrics