Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008

The Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008 takes forward the Government's programme of reform of the criminal justice system. These steps will help to protect the public, promote and improve access to justice, and increase public confidence in the justice system. It received Royal Assent on 8 May 2008.

In particular, the Act will:

  • introduce a new criminal of offence of incitement to hatred on the grounds of sexual orientation
  • clarify the law on self defence, articulating the state's responsibility to stand by those acting in good faith when using force in self defence
  • introduce new civil penalties for serious breaches of data protection principles
  • abolish the common law offences of blasphemy and blasphemous libel
  • reinstate the statutory ban on industrial action by prison officers
  • introduce a minimum tariff of two years for prisoners serving indeterminate public protection sentences
  • end automatic discounts for offenders given an indeterminate sentence after the initial sentencing decision has been judged unduly lenient
  • give powers for courts to make dangerous offenders given a discretionary life sentence serve a higher proportion of their tariff before being eligible for parole
  • create a presumption that trials in magistrates' courts will proceed in the event the accused fails to appear
  • introduce a new offence of possession of extreme pornographic images
  • extend existing crack house closure powers to tackle premises at the centre of serious and persistent disorder or nuisance, regardless of tenure
  • create a new offence of causing a nuisance or disturbance on NHS premises
  • provide for non-dangerous offenders who breach the terms of their licence to be recalled to prison for a fixed 28-day period
  • create a Youth Rehabilitation Order - a generic community sentence for children and young offenders - this will target the causes of offending behaviour and will simplify the current sentencing framework
  • create the Youth Conditional Caution for children and young offenders
  • bring compensation for those wrongly convicted broadly into line with compensation for victims of crime
  • provide for special immigration status for terrorists and serious criminals who cannot currently be removed from the UK for legal reasons

It was introduced in the House of Commons on 26 June 2007

The Bill, supporting documents and progress through parliament has been published on the UK Parliament website.

The report of the House of Lords Delegated Powers and Regulatory Reform Committee on the Bill has also been published on the UK Parliament site.

 The Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008

Implementation

The provisions below come into effect automatically without the need for a commencement order.

All other provisions will be commenced by order. This page will be updated when further information becomes available.

section subject commencement date
53 sch. 13 allocation and sending procedures in the Criminal Justice Act 2003 on Royal Assent
62 repeal of requirement to undertake annual review of CJ (Terrorism and Conspiracy) Act 1998 two months after Royal Assent
69-70 indecent photographs of children two months after Royal Assent
73 sch. 15 Adoption and Grooming Adoption (paras. 2-7 of sch. 15) - two months after Royal Assent
79 abolition of common law offences of blasphemy and blasphemous libel two months after Royal Assent
128 Financial Assistance under the Police Act 1996 on Royal Assent
138-139 Industrial Action by Prison Officers on Royal Assent (except in Scotland)

Related documents



Contact us:

Criminal Justice Bill Team
Criminal Justice Group
2nd Floor, Fry Building
2 Marsham Street
London SW1P 4DF

email or telephone 020 7035 1299