Criminal Justice Act 1991

Valid from 14/06/2004

46A Early removal of persons liable to removal from United Kingdom E+W

(1) Subject to subsection (2) below, where a short-term or long-term prisoner is liable to removal from the United Kingdom, the Secretary of State may under this section remove him from prison at any time after he has served the requisite period.

(2) Subsection (1) above does not apply where—

(a) the sentence is an extended sentence within the meaning of section 85 of the Powers of Criminal Courts (Sentencing) Act 2000,

(b) the sentence is for an offence under section 1 of the Prisoners (Return to Custody) Act 1995,

(c) the prisoner is subject to a hospital order, hospital direction or transfer direction under section 37, 45A or 47 of the Mental Health Act 1983,

(d) the prisoner is subject to the notification requirements of Part 2 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003, or

(e) the interval between—

(i) the date on which the prisoner will have served the requisite period for the term of the sentence, and

(ii) the date on which he will have served one-half of the sentence,

is less than 14 days.

(3) A prisoner removed from prison under this section—

(a) is so removed only for the purpose of enabling the Secretary of State to remove him from the United Kingdom under powers conferred by—

(i) Schedule 2 or 3 to the Immigration Act 1971, or

(ii) section 10 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999, and

(b) so long as remaining in the United Kingdom, remains liable to be detained in pursuance of his sentence until he falls to be released under section 33 or 35 above.

(4) So long as a prisoner removed from prison under this section remains in the United Kingdom but has not been returned to prison, any duty or power of the Secretary of State under section 33, 35 or 36 is exercisable in relation to him as if he were in prison.

(5) In this section “the requisite period” means—

(a) for a term of three months or more but less than four months, a period of 30 days;

(b) for a term of four months or more but less than 18 months, a period equal to one-quarter of the term;

(c) for a term of 18 months or more, a period that is 135 days less than one-half of the term.

(6) The Secretary of State may by order made by statutory instrument—

(a) amend the definition of “the requisite period” in subsection (5) above,

(b) make such transitional provision as appears to him necessary or expedient in connection with the amendment.

(7) No order shall be made under subsection (6) above unless a draft of the order has been laid before and approved by a resolution of each House of Parliament.

(8) In relation to any time before the commencement of sections 80 and 81 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003, the reference in subsection (2)(d) above to Part 2 of that Act is to be read as a reference to Part 1 of the Sex Offenders Act 1997.