Please note that this advice and guidance has now been withdrawn and is no longer valid. The current guidance can be found here:
Oral hearing Guidance (January 2025 v3.0) - GOV.UK
Introduction
This is the Parole Board’s Oral Hearing Guide for members.
The guide was revised in July 2014 and the most recent amendments were made in August 2018.
Contents Page
PDF, 155 KB, 4 pages
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Chapter 1: Pre-Hearing Issues
PDF, 242 KB, 19 pages
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- The Parole Board Rules
- Member Case Assessment (MCA)
- The Role of the Panel Chair
- Disclosure/withholding information
- Mental Health cases
- Deferrals
Chapter 2: Roles & Responsibilities
PDF, 154 KB, 5 pages
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- Participants in the hearing
Chapter 3: The Hearing/Procedural Issues
PDF, 173 KB, 9 pages
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- Inquisitorial or Adversarial
- Panels
- Privacy
- Order of evidence
- Admissibility of evidence
- Other Matters
- Facilities
Chapter 4: The Decision
PDF, 422 KB, 19 pages
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- Decisions
- Release Tests
- Secretary of State’s directions
- The Resettlement Plan
- Licence conditions
- Reasons
- Foreign National Prisoners subject to deportation
Chapter 5: Equal Treatment/Diversity Issues
PDF, 165 KB, 7 pages
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- Introduction
- Prisoners with physical disabilities
- Prisoners with learning disabilities
- Children and Young People
- Female prisoners
- Transgender prisoners
- Foreign language speakers
Annexes
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Annex A - Parole Board Rules 2016 (PDF, 94.3 KB, 16 pages)
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Annex B - Directions pro-forma (PDF, 298 KB, 3 pages)
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Annex C - Pro-forma CJA 2003 Licence (PDF, 100 KB, 2 pages)
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Annex D - Guidance to Members on LASPO tests for release (December 2013) (PDF, 357 KB, 18 pages)
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Annex E - Practice Guidance for Referring Cases to Oral Hearings (December 2013 - Amended April 2017) (PDF, 211 KB, 6 pages)
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Annex F - Guidance on setting directions for Oral Hearings (PDF, 230 KB, 14 pages)
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Annex G - Guidance on drafting reasons (PDF, 200 KB, 9 pages)
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Annex H - Practice Guidance for Members Duties towards Victims (February 2014) (PDF, 541 KB, 23 pages)
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Annex H-1 - Good Practice Checklist for Chairs (PDF, 169 KB, 3 pages)
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Annex I - Policy on Open Conditions (PDF, 110 KB, 3 pages)
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Annex J - PB Guidance to replace SofS Directions and SofS Directions on Open (PDF, 243 KB, 4 pages)
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Annex K - Good Practice Guide for Oral Hearings (November 2013) (PDF, 200 KB, 6 pages)
August 2018 Changes
- References to previous versions of the Parole Board Rules have been updated to the Parole Board Rules (2016).
- References to the ‘Intensive Case Management’ process have been updated to the ‘Member Case Assessment’ process.
- Paragraph 2.2.1 in Chapter 4 (determinate sentence cases after recall) has been changed.
- Annex A has been updated to the Parole Board Rules 2016.
- Annex E has been updated to the same version as that of Annex 1 in the MCA Guidance.