Statutory guidance

The Parole Board rules 2019 as amended in 2026

The Parole Board Rules were introduced on 22 July 2019 and apply to all parole cases referred to the Parole Board on or after that date.

From:
Parole Board
Published
8 January 2025

Applies to England and Wales

Documents

Parole Board Rules as amended in 2026

PDF, 347 KB, 33 pages

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Details

The Parole Board Rules 2019 came into force on 22 July 2019. Since then, they have been amended several times by:

List of relevant changes following the Parole Board (Amendment) Rules 2025 that came into force on 16 December 2025 and the Parole Board (Amendment) (No.2) Rules 2026 that came into force on 4 March 2026:

  • Rule 2: Introduced a definition of “victim” to support other amendments to rule 14 
  • Rule 4: Widened the remit for delegated functions 
  • Rule 6: Introduced the power to withhold information or reports from witnesses or other hearing attendees (outside of rule 17) 
  • Rule 14: Harmonised the time limit for representations for all observer applications, and introduced the presumption in favour of allowing victims (including non-Victim Contact Scheme victims) to observe parole hearings  
  • Rule 17: Several amendments to address gaps in the existing rule, place CLOSED proceeding practice on the face of the rules, and improve the overall efficiency of applications and decision-making  
  • Rule 19: The Parole Board (Amendment) Rules 2025 introduced a presumption of a paper decision in certain cases however the Parole Board (Amendment) (No.2) Rules 2026 that came into force on 4 March 2026 removed this presumption
  • Rule 27: Introduced redacted decisions into the rules, in light of one of the Transparency Review recommendations 
  • Rule 28(A): “Error of law” was removed as a ground for setting aside a final decision and removed the ability to apply to set aside a no release decision 
  • Rule 32: Introduced the power to refer release decisions to the High Court in certain cases (Parole Referral Mechanism). This came into force on 31 December 2025.

Updates to this page

Published 8 January 2025

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