§ MR. BUTTasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department, At what period of his imprisonment the propriety of continuing the sentence of penal servitude of a prisoner is brought under his notice; whether the case of every prisoner is considered at the end of fifteen years; and, whether there is any exception in the case of prisoners convicted before a certain period or in the case of prisoners sentenced to death whose sentences have been commuted to penal servitude for life?
MR. ASSHETON CROSS, in reply, said, that the rule laid down by his Predecessor, Lord Aberdare, as to prisoners sentenced before 1864 was that their sentences were revised at the end of 15 years. The rule now was that convicts under life sentences, whether imposed by the Crown in lieu of capital punishments or by the Judges, were not released in any case in less than 15 years. Convicts were made to understand that they would not be liberated at any special period, but that every case would be considered and decided upon its own merits. As a matter of practice releases occurred at periods ranging from 15 to 20 years, depending on the facts and circumstances, and the general character and conduct of the convict during his confinement.
§ MR. BUTTwished to know whether there was any rule as to the revision of sentences after a certain period?
MR. ASSHETON CROSSIt is necessary at the end of 20 years that the Director of Convict Prisons should send up every case to the Home Secretary.