Parole Board Scotland rule changes on 25 March 2026

Scotland is changing how parole decisions are made. From 25 March 2026, new Parole Board rules come into force. If you’re teaching justice studies or simply trying to understand the system, this guide walks you through what will change and why, with clear definitions and a practical example.

First, a quick refresher. Parole is when someone serving a sentence can be released early to finish it in the community under conditions (called a licence). The Parole Board for Scotland is independent; its panels read reports, hear evidence, and decide whether a person can be safely managed in the community.

The core change is about victims’ safety. Scottish Statutory Instrument 2026 No. 82 - the Parole Board (Scotland) Amendment Rules 2026 - requires panels, in every case they consider, to take into account the likely impact of their decision on the safety and security of any victim and any victim’s family member. Under the 2022 rules, panels could weigh this; from 25 March they must.

The rules also clarify what counts as a victim. A victim here means the person against or in respect of whom the offence was committed. Panels are not required to seek extra information about victims or families before they decide. That point matters: the change is about what must be considered, not about ordering new inquiries into private information.

Alongside this, panels may still consider the familiar risk factors: what the offence involved, behaviour in custody, the risk of further offending or harm if released, the person’s plans for life on licence and how likely they are to stick to them, and the effect of release on others, including the person’s own family. These are the day‑to‑day building blocks of parole decisions.

A second change focuses on cases where a victim’s remains have not been recovered. If someone is serving a sentence for murder or culpable homicide imposed in Scotland, or an equivalent conviction elsewhere in the UK, the panel must, when deciding whether to release, consider two things: whether there are reasonable grounds to believe the person has information about how or where the remains were disposed of, and whether they have not disclosed it. This duty does not apply to specific statutory releases under sections 3A(4) or 17(4) of the 1993 Act.

It is important to be clear about what this is and is not. This is not an automatic ‘no body, no parole’ rule. The Board is not told to refuse parole whenever remains are missing. Instead, non‑disclosure becomes a mandatory factor in the overall risk assessment where there is a sound basis to think the person knows more than they have said.

Let’s ground the language. A licence sets out conditions a person must obey after release, such as where they live, who supervises them, and who they must avoid. If they break those conditions, they can be recalled to prison. The Parole Board’s goal is public protection, which includes victims’ safety and wider community safety.

Timing and coverage are straightforward. These amendments apply only to cases referred by the Scottish Ministers to the Parole Board on or after 25 March 2026. If a case was referred before that date, the 2022 rules continue to govern that referral even if the hearing takes place later.

For classroom notes, the key dates help. The instrument was made on 12 February 2026, laid before the Scottish Parliament on 13 February 2026, and comes into force on 25 March 2026. The legal authority sits in the Prisoners and Criminal Proceedings (Scotland) Act 1993 as amended by the Victims, Witnesses and Justice Reform (Scotland) Act 2025, which commenced relevant sections on 11 February 2026 via S.S.I. 2025/393 as amended by S.S.I. 2026/66 (C. 3).

Here’s a simple scenario you can use in a lesson. A panel reviews a life prisoner convicted of murder where the body has never been found. Reports suggest there are reasonable grounds to believe the person knows the location of the remains but has declined to say. Under the 2026 rules, the panel must record and weigh that non‑disclosure, alongside risk assessments, behaviour in custody, and a proposed supervision plan. It must also consider how its decision could affect the safety and security of the victim’s family.

For families, the message is that their safety is now explicitly considered in every parole case. For people in prison and their representatives, the message is that behaviour, risk, and realistic plans still matter, but in ‘no body’ cases, credible explanations and cooperation will be closely examined. According to Scottish Statutory Instrument 2026 No. 82, these changes aim to make decision‑making clearer and more consistent across Scotland.