"On14 July 2003 ... the panel did not hear evidence from DC Bulfield and disregarded the evidence of Masters Moss and Rafferty."
"(1) This section applies to a prisoner serving an extended sentence within the meaning ofsection 85 of the Powers of the Criminal Courts (Sentencing) Act 2000 who is recalled to prison under section 39(1) or (2) above. (2) Subject to subsection (3) below, the prisoner may require the Secretary of State to refer his case to the Board at any time. (3) Where there has been a previous reference of the prisoner's case to the Board (whether under this section or section 39(4) above), the Secretary of State shall not be required to refer the case until after the end of the period of one year beginning with the disposal of that reference. (4) On a reference- (a) under this section; or (b) under section 39(4) above, the Board shall direct the prisoner's release if satisfied that it is no longer necessary for the protection of the public that he should be confined (but not otherwise). (5) If the Board gives a direction under subsection (4) above it shall be the duty of the Secretary of State to release the prisoner on licence."
"What is undoubtedly the case, as decisions of the Court show, is that there are circumstances where Article 5 may be engaged in respect of persons recalled to prison during a licence period even where that detention is a consequence of, or arises out of, an earlier sentence of imprisonment imposed by a court [The judge then indicated the authorities which he had in mind] ... These cases were considered by the Court of Appeal in R (Giles) v Parole Board[2002] 3 All ER 1123 Civ 951; [2002] WLR, and it is not necessary that I should analyse them in detail here. The principles to be derived from those decisions can in my view be summarised as follows: (1) Nobody should be subject to arbitrary or disproportionate punishment; this requires that the re-detention following an earlier release from custody should be not only in accordance with domestic law but should also, to use the language adopted in the Weeks v U.K(1987) 10 EHRR 293 case (para.42) 'result from', 'follow and depend upon' or occur 'by virtue of' the conviction. In short, there must be a sufficient causal connection between the conviction and the deprivation of liberty in issue. (2) Where in the course of serving a sentence a prisoner embarks upon a period of detention (whether following release or not) which is not directly engaged by the original sentence, but raises new issues affecting the lawfulness of the detention, the continuing or fresh detention of the prisoner will have to be subject to continuing supervision as required by Article 5.4."
"37. In my judgment there is no infringement of Article 5.1 when a prisoner on licence is detained whether following breach of the terms of the licence or because other information raises fresh fears that he may commit further offences. There is not in those circumstances a severing of the causal link between the sentence for the original conviction and the subsequent detention. On the contrary, the sentencing judge will have appreciated at the time of imposing the original extended sentence that there is a possibility that further imprisonment may arise if there can be no effective supervision of the prisoner in the community, or if that supervision is failing to achieve its objectives. Such detention is linked to the original sentence; indeed, it is necessary to make the extended licence period effective. If the very principle of recall were unlawful, there would be no sanction for breaches of the licence which demonstrated that the risk of further offending could not be controlled by supervision in the community, and the objective of the sentence would thereby be defeated ... 44. Strictly, however, I do not have to determine that issue in this case. I say that because it seems to me clear that the judge imposing the extended sentence in this case must have been concerned about the risk of future sexual (possibly as well as violent) offences. It is equally obvious that the Parole Board in this case was concerned about the risks of sexual offences being committed in the future. This is demonstrated by the emphasis they put on the claimant's failure to undertake work to address his behaviour and also the reference to the effect on his behaviour of his drinking. It would be fully in accord with Article 5.1 to detain after recall for that reason since the detention would be achieving the objectives of the original sentence. Indeed, whenever the Parole Board takes the view that the supervision arrangements in the community have fundamentally broken down, they are necessarily imposing detention for the reasons given by the sentencing judge. They are in effect concluding that those risks which the judge considered justified the extended sentence, whatever they were, cannot be satisfactorily contained if the prisoner is allowed to remain within the community. They do not have to have evidence of behaviour which of itself is directly linked to the risk of committing further offences, although obviously such evidence would justify recall and detention since it demonstrates that the supervision is not proving successful. It will also suffice that the evidence shows that the conduct of the prisoner has been such that the licensing arrangements cannot be maintained. I agree with Mr Fitzgerald that not every misdemeanour by a prisoner on licence would justify his recall; the behaviour must be such as to show that the arrangements for supervision in the community cannot be sustained. That, however, is for the Parole Board to determine, and it is only if the evidence is not capable of sustaining their conclusion that the courts can interfere ... 48. For similar reasons I see no basis for the argument that the Parole Board should be satisfied to a high degree of the likelihood of re-offending. That is not what the section says. The question is whether continuing confinement is necessary for the protection of the public. It must be remembered that the sentencing judge has already identified the potential risk and the Board is frequently seeking to identify whether that risk can continue to be dealt with by supervision or whether those arrangements have broken down. In such cases the Board need only be satisfied that they have broken down to the extent that the protection of the public interest warrants recall. In other cases there may be information which will cause the Board to take the view that there is an unacceptable risk of re-offending, notwithstanding that the licence conditions have been complied with. The Board may properly conclude that the risk is unacceptable, notwithstanding that it is not high. No doubt the risk must be real or substantial as opposed to being merely fanciful or imperceptible. That is the test adopted in the case of prisoners serving a discretionary life sentence, albeit in relation to a different risk: see R v Parole Board ex p. Bradley[1991] 1 WLR 134 . I see no reason why that approach should not be equally applicable here. I do not consider that any higher test is necessary."
"I accept that the concept of burden of proof is an inappropriate term, but nevertheless it does seem to me that it is perfectly apposite to describe the position in terms of their being a presumption that the prisoner will be detained unless the Parole Board is satisfied to the contrary. Ms Steyn contended that there was not even such a presumption; it was simply a matter of the Board considering all the relevant material and giving it such weight as it considered appropriate. I was referred to the judgment of Sedley LJ in Karanakaran v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2000] Imm AR 271 at 302 in which he explained how adjudicators must adopt such an approach when considering the question of internal flight in asylum claims. I confess that I do not wholly understand this argument. I fully appreciate that it will only be in very exceptional cases indeed where the presumption is likely to determine the outcome of any detention case. In practice the Board will almost always have evidence which will enable it to reach a clear conclusion on the issue of future risk. Moreover, even if it simply repeats the formula for detention contained in the statutory language it will be plain that it had ample evidence to justify the decision to detain, and will often say so, as in this case. However, there is in my view a distinction between on the one hand the Board being required to order his release if satisfied that it is no longer necessary to detain the prisoner, which is how the legislation is framed; and on the other the Board being required to release unless satisfied that it is necessary to detain the prisoner, which is how Mr Fitzgerald says it ought to be framed in order to comply with Article 5.1. The logic of Ms Steyn's argument, as she was constrained to accept, is that either formulation would have precisely the same effect. I do not accept that. In my view there is a clear distinction between the two formulations, notwithstanding that in practice it is likely to be of little significance which is adopted. As the provision stands the default position is that detention will continue unless the Board is satisfied that this is not necessary. If after hearing all the evidence the Board remains genuinely unsure whether the prisoner needs to be detained or not, it must on the ordinary construction of section 44A continue his detention. On the alternative formulation the prisoner in that situation would be at liberty (albeit on licence)."