Prison Amendment Bill 2026 Extends Sex Offender Incarceration Before Parole Eligibility
Summary
The Gibraltar Government has published the Prison (Amendment) Bill 2026, introducing legislation to require individuals convicted of serious sexual offences to serve a greater proportion of their sentence in custody before being eligible for parole consideration. The Bill addresses early release through the parole system rather than sentencing guidelines following consultation with the local judiciary. Release decisions would remain subject to a strict public protection test.
What changed
The Prison (Amendment) Bill 2026 proposes to extend the minimum custody period for offenders convicted of serious sexual offences before they can be considered for parole. The Government chose the parole system approach over creating separate sentencing guidelines, following advice that Gibraltar-specific guidelines would be resource-intensive and increase legal uncertainty. The Bill requires individuals to serve a greater proportion of their sentence in custody.
Affected parties include criminal defendants convicted of specified sexual offences, who will face longer periods of incarceration before parole eligibility. The parole system now incorporates a stricter public protection test requiring that release only be considered where detention is no longer necessary for public protection and the risk of reoffending is minimal. Legal professionals and courts should note the alignment with UK sentencing guidelines and case law from England and Wales.
Archived snapshot
Apr 16, 2026GovPing captured this document from the original source. If the source has since changed or been removed, this is the text as it existed at that time.
Accessibility
X
Font size
- Reset ### Filters
None Grayscale Inverted Colors Without Blue Without Green
Highlight
- None Links Titles Just text
Colour
- Default Black on White Yellow on Black Green on Black White on Black
Zoom
- + Reset ## Sex Offenders to Serve Longer in Prison Under New Bill - 260/2026
April 15, 2026
The Government has published the Prison (Amendment) Bill 2026, introducing new measures to ensure offenders convicted of serious sexual offences spend a longer time in prison before being considered for release, strengthening safeguards for public protection.
The Government has chosen to deal with this through the parole system rather than sentencing following extensive consultation, including with the local judiciary. The Gibraltar courts are closely aligned with the United Kingdom’s established sentencing approach. Judges rely on well-developed UK sentencing guidelines and extensive case law from England and Wales, applied by both sentencing and appeal courts in Gibraltar.
The Government was advised that creating a separate Gibraltar-specific set of sentencing guidelines for this category of offences would would be complex, resource-intensive, and could lead to increased legal uncertainty and a higher number of appeals. This approach was therefore not recommended to the Government. The approach adopted in the Bill sought to avoid these risks.
Instead the proposed legislation addresses the issue of early release by requiring individuals convicted of specified sexual offences to serve a greater proportion of their sentence in custody before becoming eligible to be considered for release on licence.
Minister for Justice, Nigel Feetham KC MP, said: “The reforms would significantly strengthen the law by extending the time served in custody and also reinforcing that release can only be considered where continued detention is no longer necessary for public protection and the risk of reoffending is minimal. Importantly, eligibility for parole does not mean that offenders will be released on parole. Any decision to grant parole would remain subject to a strict public protection test.”
Find us on social media
Get daily alerts for Gibraltar Government Press Releases
Daily digest delivered to your inbox.
Free. Unsubscribe anytime.
About this page
Every important government, regulator, and court update from around the world. One place. Real-time. Free. Our mission
Source document text, dates, docket IDs, and authority are extracted directly from HM Gibraltar.
The summary, classification, recommended actions, deadlines, and penalty information are AI-generated from the original text and may contain errors. Always verify against the source document.
Classification
Who this affects
Taxonomy
Browse Categories
Get alerts for this source
We'll email you when Gibraltar Government Press Releases publishes new changes.
Subscribed!
Optional. Filters your digest to exactly the updates that matter to you.