By IRNA
London : The British government is to planning to deport foreign prisoners earlier to help alleviate the country’s overcrowded jails, Justice Minister Jack Straw has announced.
“I will be laying the appropriate draft Order, which is subject to the affirmative resolution procedure, and time will be found for a debate shortly,” Straw said in a written parliamentary statement published Friday.
He said he had decided to extend the early removal scheme so as to enable foreign prisoners to be removed 270 days before the halfway point of their sentence early rather than the current 135 that was established under the provisions of the Criminal Justice Act 2003.
Since its introduction in June 2004, over 3,000 prisoners have been removed under the scheme. Straw said this made a “significant contribution to reducing the number of foreign national criminals in our prisons and on our streets.”
Last week, the prison population in England and Wales was reported to have reached a new record of 82,068 prisoners, exceeding the current capacity of 81,972.
According to official figures, there were 11,310 foreign national prisoners within the prison system as of December 2007, representing 14 per cent of the total.
The Justice Secretary said that the number in Britain was low in comparison to most other European countries. Of 17 western European states, the UK’s proportion is the third lowest.
It compares with 21 per cent in France, 28 per cent in Germany, 34 per cent in Italy, and as high as 42 per cent in Greece and 43 per cent in Austria.
Britain’s early deportation scheme applies only to those foreign national prisoners who are able to be removed to their country of origin. It does not include those serving a life or indeterminate sentence.