§ Miss Herbisonasked the Secretary of State for Scotland what is the practice of his Department regarding the transfer of a Scots citizen imprisoned in England to a Scottish prison.
§ Mr. MaclayThe governing rule is that a prisoner must serve his sentence in the country in which he was convicted. 23W The types of case in which exceptions may he made are as follows:
Applications for transfer to Scotland may be entertained from—
- (a) Borstal trainees, and prisoners aged under 21 serving sentences of one year or more;
- (b)prisoners serving sentences of one year or more who were ordinarily resident in Scotland and only temporarily in England at the time of their crime; and
- (c)prisoners for whose transfers there are very strong compassionate reasons—for example, if a close relative is suffering from a protracted illness which constantly endangers his life.