Indeterminate Sentences

Indeterminate sentences are different from determinate sentences because there is no set date on which the prisoner will be released. Prisoners who serve determinate sentences know the maximum length that their sentence will be, and when they will become eligible for parole or early release. Prisoners serving indeterminate sentences are required to serve a ‘minimum term’, which used to be called a ‘tariff,’ before being eligible for release on licence.

If a prisoner was sentenced before 18th December 2003, the Home Secretary would have set the tariff. Nowadays it is the sentencing judge who sets the minimum term. There are arrangements in place for prisoners who were set a tariff under the old provisions to have their minimum term set by a judge. It is possible to do this up until the expiry of their tariff, but not afterwards.