Parole Board litigation strategy: for legal practitioners
A guide for legal practitioners about how the Parole Board handles litigation and the changes to the way it deals with judicial reviews.
Applies to England and Wales
Documents
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This is the first time the Parole Board has published its strategy for dealing with litigation. This document sets out changes in the way the board deals with judicial reviews, and clarifies how it handles litigation as a whole.
There is one significant change from current practice. The Parole Board will not defend most of the applications for judicial review of a Parole Board decision not to direct release or not to recommend open conditions. The board will take no active part other than to give the court factual information where appropriate. The board will approach the pre-action protocols in a similar way.
The Parole Board will continue to defend applications for judicial review where it believes this is appropriate. The board expects that most of the cases it does defend will relate to issues of procedure or judicial acts made during a review, like case management directions and refusals to grant oral hearings.