The Ministry of Justice has made the Parole Board (Amendment) Rules 2026 (S.I. 2026/129), signed on 11 February 2026, laid before Parliament on 12 February, and coming into force on 5 March 2026. The instrument amends the Parole Board Rules 2019 for England and Wales to clarify when cases should remain on the papers and when an oral hearing may still be required.
The instrument states it is made in consequence of a defect in S.I. 2025/1231 and is being issued free of charge to all known recipients of that earlier instrument. The changes are confined to rules 19 and 20 and are intended to align decision-making pathways where a case is initially considered on the papers or reviewed following a provisional paper decision.
Rule 19 is replaced in part to create a clear starting point: where a prisoner is under investigation for a new criminal offence relevant to risk, or charged with such an offence and the charge remains unresolved, or where a fixed-term prisoner’s automatic release date is so near that it is impractical to hold a hearing, a panel must not direct an oral hearing unless it considers there are exceptional circumstances to justify it.
Rule 20 is amended so the same approach applies when a duty member reviews a case after a provisional decision on the papers. In those circumstances, the duty member must not direct an oral hearing unless satisfied that exceptional circumstances justify departing from a paper determination.
These amendments sit alongside wider reforms introduced in late 2025. Government guidance records that the 2019 Rules were revised to introduce a presumption of a paper decision in certain cases and to require panels, in specific classes, to consider whether exceptional circumstances justify an oral hearing over and above the established fairness test from Osborn. (gov.uk)
The legal basis is unchanged. The Secretary of State makes Parole Board Rules under section 239(5) of the Criminal Justice Act 2003, which provides the rule‑making power for Board proceedings; subsequent legislation has expanded what may be prescribed in rules but the core authority remains section 239(5). (publications.parliament.uk)
For practitioners, the practical effect is a firmer paper‑first default for the three scenarios now set out on the face of the rules. Panels and duty members will still need to assess whether any case‑specific feature amounts to an exceptional circumstance and, where they depart from the default, record clear reasons consistent with Parole Board decision‑writing guidance. (gov.uk)
For prisoners under active investigation or subject to unresolved charges, the change is likely to reduce listings for oral hearings while those matters remain outstanding. Fairness obligations continue to apply, but panels must now also ask whether anything beyond fairness amounts to an exceptional reason to convene a hearing. (gov.uk)
Timing is tight for fixed‑term prisoners approaching an automatic release date. The clarified presumption allows the Board to avoid impractical hearings and progress decisions on the papers, while preserving a route to a hearing if genuinely exceptional factors arise. The earlier amending rules (S.I. 2025/1231) took effect on 16 December 2025; the corrective instrument now comes into force on 5 March 2026. (statutoryinstruments.parliament.uk)