HL Deb 27 July 1983 vol 443 cc1608-9WA
Lord Hylton

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Since when it has been the Home Office assumption that sentences should be served in the jurisdiction in which they were given; what are the grounds for this assumption; and whether it does not arbitrarily divide up the United Kingdom contrary to the intention of Prison Rule No. 31.

Lord Elton

There has always been a presumption that a prisoner should serve his sentence in the jurisdiction in which it was imposed, unless there are good reasons otherwise. The maintenance of family contacts is one such reason, and sympathetic consid- eration is given to requests under the Criminal Justice Act 1961 for transfer between different parts of the United Kingdom for that purpose. However, neither that Act nor the Prison Rules confer a right to be transferred, and many other considerations have to be taken into account.