Recall

Recall is the process by which a prisoner who has been released on licence is returned to custody. Gov.uk's probation guidance for offenders explains it directly: you can be taken straight back to prison if you have been released on licence or parole and you break the rules of your probation, and this is known as a 'recall'. The offender manager is required to tell the recalled person why they have been recalled.

Gov.uk sets out three types of recall with different consequences. A fixed-term recall means the prisoner will be sent back to prison for 56 days before automatic release back onto licence for the rest of the sentence. A standard recall is more serious: the prisoner will go back to prison until the end of their sentence, unless a parole board or the Secretary of State for Justice decide to release them, with the case automatically sent to a parole board after 28 days. Indeterminate sentence recalls follow a similar referral process to the Parole Board, which can direct immediate release, set a future release date, or keep the prisoner in custody pending further review.

The recall system is governed by a Ministry of Justice policy framework, which the department states sets out the mandatory requirements and guidance for all prison and probation staff involved in the recall, review and re-release of recalled prisoners, covering offenders on indeterminate, determinate and extended sentences as well as those released on home detention curfew.