The move, part of the new Criminal Justice
and Immigration Act, will credit periods of remand on bail to
count as time served in jail.
It could apply to any bailed suspect,
including violent offenders.
At present, offenders who are held in
custody awaiting a trial date - which can take more than a year -
have the time they are held behind bars deducted from their final
sentence.
However, it does not apply to offenders
who are charged and bailed before trials begin.
In many terrorism cases, suspects in a
plot who are charged and awaiting trial are given bail with strict
conditions.
Adel Yahya, who was accused of being
involved in the July 21 plot to bomb London, was bailed, tagged
and placed under a curfew while he awaited trial for 18 months. He
eventually pleaded guilty of assisting in the planning of the
failed attacks.
The Tories criticised the new law and
said it was another smoke and mirrors initiative designed to
reduce the numbers in prison.
Nick Herbert, the shadow justice
secretary, said: "While Jack Straw tries to pass off his Act as a
tough measure, the truth is that this will actually allow suspects
to be rewarded with time off a prison sentence for days that they
have spent tagged on bail, even if they are asleep at home or
taking drugs."
The law applies when a bailed offender is
subject to a curfew condition and an electronic monitoring
condition. The credit period will amount to half of the period
during which the offender is subject to these conditions.
A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said:
“Curfew Credit will enable the sentencing court to direct that up
to half the time spent on bail under an electronically monitored
curfew could be credited against a subsequent custodial sentence,
in a similar way to that those who are remanded into custody are
already credited.
"Prisoners would need to be subject to an
electronically monitored curfew for at least nine hours a day to
qualify for the credit and would not receive full credit for each
day of the curfew.
“Violations of the curfew will be
monitored rigorously. If a defendant breaches the terms of their
curfew, they will be returned to court and may be remanded to
custody as a result.
"Sentences would be required to take
account of the defendant’s compliance with the curfew condition
and have discretion to direct that all parts or none of the
available time would be credited against the sentence.”
It comes after The Daily Telegraph
disclosed that recaptured prisoners will not have to serve all of
the time they spend on the run behind bars.
New rules from the Ministry of Justice
state that the day of escape and the day of capture count as time
served in jail - effectively shaving two days off the time
criminals should spend behind bars.
There are currently 110 prisoners on the
run. Typically, escapees are at liberty for three years. One
offender has been at large for five years.
The guidance also states that governors
are allowed to count up to a month of time spent at large as
having been served, without referring the case to the Justice
Secretary.
