I beg to move, That the clause be read a Second time.

The new clause re-enacts, with appropriate modifications, section 45 of the Criminal Justice Act 1991, as amended, which sets out the release provisions for offenders committed to custody in default of payment of a fine or for contempt of court. The new clause provides for the unconditional release at the halfway point and will cover those serving terms of both less than and more than 12 months. It preserves the effect of part of the old provision, which provided for the unconditional release at the halfway point of a person committed for a term of less than 12 months or at the two-thirds point in the case of a person committed for a term of more than 12 months. However, under the new framework, offenders sentenced to a ''normal'' term of imprisonment of more than 12 months will be released automatically at the halfway point, so it seemed sensible to extend the provision to fine defaulters and contemnors.

The new clause also provides a power to release such offenders unconditionally on compassionate grounds because the clause is self-contained and therefore does not attract the provision to release on compassionate grounds from sentences of imprisonment in chapter 6 of the Bill.