The Criminal Justice Act 1991 (c. 53) is an Act of the

Parliament of the United Kingdom The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative suprem ...

. Most of it only applies to

England and Wales England and Wales () is one of the three legal jurisdictions of the United Kingdom. It covers the constituent countries England and Wales and was formed by the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. The substantive law of the jurisdiction is En ...

, with certain clauses extended to either

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label=Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is #Descriptions, variously described as ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to ...

. The Act enabled the introduction of

private prisons A private prison, or for-profit prison, is a place where people are imprisoned by a third party that is contracted by a government agency. Private prison companies typically enter into contractual agreements with governments that commit pr ...

to the United Kingdom, attempted to reform the system of

fines Fines may refer to: * Fines, Andalusia, Spanish municipality * Fine (penalty) * Fine, a dated term for a premium on a lease of land, a large sum the tenant pays to commute (lessen) the rent throughout the term *Fines, ore or other products with a s ...

in England and Wales, established

HM Inspectorate of Probation His Majesty's Inspectorate of Probation (HMIP) is a statutory body and independent UK inspectorate funded by the Ministry of Justice, formed in 1936. Role and functions HMIP reports to the Secretary of State for Justice on the effectiveness of the ...

as a statutory body, and allowed for the

Home Secretary The secretary of state for the Home Department, otherwise known as the home secretary, is a senior minister of the Crown in the Government of the United Kingdom. The home secretary leads the Home Office, and is responsible for all nationa ...

to release foreign prisoners from prison to enable their

deportation Deportation is the expulsion of a person or group of people from a place or country. The term ''expulsion'' is often used as a synonym for deportation, though expulsion is more often used in the context of international law, while deportation ...

. It remains in force with many of its provisions amended by subsequent Criminal Justice Acts.

History

The

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

MP John Greenway attempted to have the Act amended during its passage to introduce the

death penalty Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that ...

for the murder of a police officer.

Provisions

Early Removal Scheme

The Act mode provision for an Early Removal Scheme. Under the Scheme, the

can release foreign national prisoners early from prison where they were subject to

or administrative removal. The Scheme is currently regulated by the

Criminal Justice Act 2003 The Criminal Justice Act 2003 (c. 44) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It is a wide-ranging measure introduced to modernise many areas of the criminal justice system in England and Wales and, to a lesser extent, in Scotland a ...

and was modified in 2008 by

Statutory Instrument In many countries, a statutory instrument is a form of delegated legislation. United Kingdom Statutory instruments are the principal form of delegated or secondary legislation in the United Kingdom. National government Statutory instrumen ...

to reduce the qualifying period before a prisoner could be released for deportation.

Unit fines

Section 18 made provision for

to be imposed using a mathematical formula that took into account the seriousness of the crime and the offenders ability to pay. This was subject to criticism from

magistrates The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a '' magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judic ...

and others for imposing significant fines on wealthier individuals for minor offences, and insignificant fines on poorer individuals for more serious offences. Eventually,

Kenneth Clarke Kenneth Harry Clarke, Baron Clarke of Nottingham, (born 2 July 1940), often known as Ken Clarke, is a British politician who served as Home Secretary from 1992 to 1993 and Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1993 to 1997 as well as serving as de ...

introduced the Criminal Justice Act 1993 to remove the system of unit fines.

Drug rehabilitation

Schedule 1A6 made provision for attendance at drug treatment for an offender on

probation Probation in criminal law is a period of supervision over an offender, ordered by the court often in lieu of incarceration. In some jurisdictions, the term ''probation'' applies only to community sentences (alternatives to incarceration), such ...

who suffered from

alcohol Alcohol most commonly refers to: * Alcohol (chemistry), an organic compound in which a hydroxyl group is bound to a carbon atom * Alcohol (drug), an intoxicant found in alcoholic drinks Alcohol may also refer to: Chemicals * Ethanol, one of sev ...

drug dependence Substance dependence, also known as drug dependence, is a biopsychological situation whereby an individual's functionality is dependent on the necessitated re-consumption of a psychoactive substance because of an adaptive state that has develope ...

HM Inspectorate of Probation

Section 73 placed

on a statutory footing.

Private prisons

Sections 84 to 88 made it possible for the establishment of

. Subsequently,

HM Prison Wolds HM Prison Wolds was a Category C men's prison, located south-west of Everthorpe, (near Brough) in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The prison was operated by G4S, and was situated next to HMP Everthorpe. The two neighbouring prisons were ...

opened as the first privately managed prison in the UK in 1992.

References

{{Reflist Criminal law of the United Kingdom United Kingdom Acts of Parliament 1991