Parole Board hearings could be held in open court and become subject to a new independent appeal system in the wake of the release of Colin Pitchfork, the double child killer.
A root-and-branch review ordered by Robert Buckland, the Justice Secretary, will allow the previously closed-door hearings in prisons to be opened to the public, victims and press via video links and introduce a right to appeal a parole decision by a judge from outside the board.
The move to refashion the Parole Board into a more conventional court could also see it renamed as a “risk assessment” tribunal to reflect the greater emphasis that ministers want to place on protecting the public and victims’ families.
The Parole Board is understood to be resisting.
The review was ordered after the controversy over the parole board’s abortive proposal to release John Worboys, the so-called black cab rapist, but has been given fresh impetus by the freeing of Pitchfork, which Mr Buckland unsuccessfully challenged.
The 61-year-old was jailed for life in 1989 after he admitted raping and strangling 15-year-olds Lynda Mann and Dawn Ashworth in Leicestershire.
He walked free from prison last Wednesday after the Parole Board ruled he was no longer a danger to the public.
Mr Buckland asked the Parole Board to reconsider its decision as irrational but Michael Topolski QC, a senior judge on the board who carried out the review, disagreed and upheld the original decision.
Under the root-and-branch review, appeals against parole decisions could be handed to a separate court rather than the board being required to reconsider its own verdicts, as happens now.
“It will jigsaw into the other appeals system that we have rather than having this add-on reconsideration mechanism that exists within the Parole Board,” said a source. “It will look less like the parole board marking its own homework.”
Under the proposed changes to the law, anyone could request a parole hearing be held in public but it would be up to Caroline Corby, chairman of the parole board, to decide if it was in the interests of justice.
Victims and offenders would be consulted and, although they would not have a veto, it would be unlikely to be allowed if the victims objected and it was judged to risk significant distress.
Officials are working on a potential appeal process if victims opposed a closed-door decision.
The board will get more court-like powers to restrict reporting of, for example, personal details such as the addresses of a bail hostel and to compel witnesses to attend.
A court or other venue will be set aside where the victims, public and press could attend the virtual hearing held in the offender’s prison.
Victims will be able to apply to attend parole hearings irrespective of whether they are in public and are unlikely to be refused in most cases.
On Friday, Mr Buckland said: “In the next few months you will hear more about proposals to make further changes to increase public confidence in the system in our country.
“The concern of the public has been heard loud and clear, which is why we are carrying out a root-and-branch review.”
