Sentencing Bill

Lord Verdirame Excerpts

Wednesday 3rd December 2025 Lords Chamber

Moved by

[Lord Verdirame]

122A: Clause 32, page 59, line 30, at end insert—
“(1A) Subsection (1) of section 260 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 does not apply when a fixed-term prisoner is sentenced to a term of imprisonment of more than three years.(1B) A fixed-term prisoner is not to be removed under section 260 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 unless the Secretary of State has made arrangements for the prisoner to serve the remaining custodial period in the country to which the prisoner is to be removed.(1C) A fixed-term prisoner is not to be removed under section 260 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 unless the Secretary of State is satisfied that the interests of justice are not defeated by the removal (having regard to the gravity of the offence and the impact of the offender’s criminal conduct on those affected by it).(1D) Subsection (1) of section 260 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 does not apply in relation to a prisoner detained in accordance with subsection (4)(b) of that section after returning to the UK following a previous removal.”Member’s explanatory statement
This amendment is intended to add certain limits to early removals to ensure that the interests of justice and those of victims are taken into account, and that early removals do not result in impunity.

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[Lord Verdirame (Non-Afl)]

My Lords, I apologise for not speaking at Second Reading. If I had, I would have said that there are many positive things about the Bill. However, I have tabled this amendment, with the support of the noble and learned Lord, Lord Thomas of Cwmgiedd, because I consider Clause 32 to be an unsatisfactory aspect of the Bill.

Clause 32 amends the Criminal Justice Act 2003 to enable the removal of an offender from prison for the purpose of immediate deportation from the United Kingdom, so that removal can happen at any time after sentence. Any foreign offender on a fixed-term sentence would be eligible for deportation without serving any part of their custodial sentence.

The Government have chosen to go beyond the recommendation of the Independent Sentencing Review, chaired by the former Lord Chancellor David Gauke. The review had proposed reducing the removal point from 50% to 30% of the custodial sentence, and that recommendation has already been implemented by statutory instrument. The review also recommended that foreign offenders sentenced to three years or less could be removed more swiftly—even before they had served any part of their sentence. However, Clause 32 does not include the three-year limit.

Some of the practical and principle problems with this change in the law were spelled out in an article in the Spectator last August by Professor Ekins from Policy Exchange’s judicial power project and the University of Oxford. He argued that this change in the law risks creating “perverse incentives” for foreign offenders, who would be able to commit serious crimes in the United Kingdom with relative impunity. Serious crimes would not be treated consistently or as their moral gravity warrants.

The new policy is said to have public support. It is true that the public, if asked, “Do you want foreign offenders to be deported?” will likely say yes by an overwhelming majority. But, if the questions are, “Do you want foreign offenders to go unpunished?” or, “Do you think British offenders should be punished more severely than foreign offenders for the same crime?”, I suspect the response would be rather different. To be clear, I am not opposed to the principle that a foreign offender should be removed after serving time in prison. The question is whether we as a country should give up on punishing and rehabilitating foreign offenders and instead deport them without any punishment.

The review recommended three years as the limit because it considered that foreign national offenders sentenced to three years or less would serve the equivalent of a short prison sentence and, in those circumstances, deportation could be viewed as punishment—although I must admit that, for my part, I have some difficulty with the notion that deportation itself is a form of punishment. Where the individual is already liable to deportation, it cannot be said to constitute a new punishment. But, more fundamentally, being deported is simply not the same as going to prison, and how punitive deportation is will depend on the circumstances, including the gravity of the crime. As Professor Ekins argues, it is very obviously not true that deportation is a punishment comparable with a lengthy term of imprisonment for offences such as rape, robbery or drug or people trafficking.

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[Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Con)]

Very briefly, my Lords, I want to thank the Minister for his very helpful, illuminating and quite reassuring answer, which those of us who spoke to Amendment 146 are grateful for.

[Lord Verdirame (Non-Afl)]

My Lords, I thank the Minister for his answer. I too would like to hear more about prisoner transfer agreements. They are the best policy solution in this area, so I am glad to hear that the Government are still pursuing that route. On whether the three-year limit is more or less restrictive, it is true that it does not feature in the legislation currently, but the key element of the current regime is that foreign offenders have to serve 50% of the custodial part of their sentence. That 50% has been reduced to 30% following the statutory instrument a few weeks ago, but Clause 32 would reduce the 30% to zero. In that context, the three-year limit would not be more restrictive.

However, with that in mind, I very much look forward to the Minister’s letter dealing with the other questions that I raised. I hope that he will be able in due course to meet me and others who are interested in this amendment to discuss what to do on Report. I beg leave to withdraw my amendment.

Amendment 122A withdrawn.