Scottish Ministers have made the Early Release of Prisoners (Scotland) Regulations 2025 under section 3C of the Prisoners and Criminal Proceedings (Scotland) Act 1993. The instrument was made on 6 November 2025, approved by resolution of the Scottish Parliament under section 3D(1), and comes into force on 10 November 2025.
Ministers state they are satisfied the measure is necessary and proportionate in response to an emergency affecting prisons generally. The stated purpose is to protect the security and good order of prisons and the health, safety and welfare of both prisoners and staff.
The Regulations apply to all prisons in Scotland, and for these purposes the term also covers young offenders institutions. A reference to release under section 1(1) of the 1993 Act includes release as applied to young offenders by section 6(1)(a)(iii). The ‘latest release date’ set by the instrument is 30 April 2026.
Eligibility is tightly defined. It covers people serving a sentence of imprisonment or detention of less than four years who are, under sections 1(1) or 7(1)(a) of the 1993 Act, due to be released within 180 days of specified reference dates. To qualify, an individual must also have been in custody on the relevant snapshot date for the cohort described.
Cohort 1 covers people serving a sub‑four‑year sentence on 20 October 2025 who are due to be released within 180 days of 10 November 2025. Regulation 3 schedules three tranches: those due for release within the first 60 days after 10 November are to be released between 11 and 13 November 2025; those due between days 61 and 120 are to be released between 25 and 27 November 2025; and those due between days 121 and 180 are to be released between 9 and 11 December 2025.
Cohort 2 covers people serving a sub‑four‑year sentence on 15 December 2025 who are due to be released within 180 days of 26 January 2026. Their early release window is 27 to 29 January 2026.
Cohort 3 covers people serving a sub‑four‑year sentence on 30 January 2026 who are due to be released within 180 days of 23 February 2026. Their early release window is 24 to 26 February 2026.
Cohort 4 covers people serving a sub‑four‑year sentence on 27 February 2026 who are due to be released within 180 days of 23 March 2026. Their early release window is 24 to 26 March 2026.
Cohort 5 covers people serving a sub‑four‑year sentence on 27 March 2026 who are due to be released within 180 days of 27 April 2026. Their early release window is 28 to 30 April 2026.
Exclusions are explicit. A person is ineligible if they have served a sentence for an offence aggravated by domestic abuse as described in section 1(1)(a) of the Abusive Behaviour and Sexual Harm (Scotland) Act 2016 and recorded under section 1(5)(b), where the conviction is not spent on the date they would otherwise be released under these Regulations. The same exclusion applies to a conviction under section 1(1) of the Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Act 2018 that has not yet become spent.
Further exclusions apply to anyone subject to a non‑harassment order imposed under section 234A of the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995 or sections 8 or 8A of the Protection from Harassment Act 1997, and to anyone sentenced to imprisonment or detention on or after 28 March 2026. These exclusions are not qualified by the spent‑conviction provision.
Regulation 4 creates a narrow gateway for those excluded solely because of an unspent domestic‑abuse‑related conviction. If that conviction becomes spent before 30 April 2026, the person must be released as soon as reasonably practicable after that date, and in any event by the latest release date.
If an eligible person is not released on the specified dates for their tranche, Regulation 3 requires release as soon as reasonably practicable, subject to the absolute backstop of 30 April 2026.
In operational terms, this is a time‑limited, emergency scheme that brings forward release for short‑term prisoners who would already be due for release within six months of the stated reference points. Determining eligibility turns on two checks: custody on the cohort snapshot date and a statutory release date under sections 1(1) or 7(1)(a) falling within the relevant 180‑day window.