Abstract

Recent events, such as the John Worboys case, have undermined confidence in the parole system and reopened longstanding debates over the confused normative basis of prisoner release policy and practice. Under Boris Johnson’s premiership, the Ministry of Justice have announced a review of the parole system and a series of measures intended to restrict the availability of parole for those serving custodial sentences for violent or sexual offences. In this seminar, Nicky Padfield and Thomas Guiney will discuss the changing face of prison release (and recall) in England and Wales and pose a series of fundamental questions about the implications of the process for the fairness, legitimacy and effectiveness of the penal system. At a time when prison release has become increasingly politicised, they also ask what meaningful role academic research has to play in shaping a fast-moving reform agenda.