Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008

Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008^[1]
Act of Parliament
	Parliament of the United Kingdom
Long title	Long title An Act to make further provision about criminal justice (including provision about the police) and dealing with offenders and defaulters; to make further provision about the management of offenders; to amend the criminal law; to make further provision for combatting crime and disorder; to make provision about the mutual recognition of financial penalties; to amend the Repatriation of Prisoners Act 1984; to make provision for a new immigration status in certain cases involving criminality; to make provision about the automatic deportation of criminals under the UK Borders Act 2007; to amend section 127 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 and to confer power to suspend the operation of that section; and for connected purposes.
Citation	2008 c. 4
Introduced by	David Hanson
Territorial extent	UK: England and Wales; Scotland; Northern Ireland;
Dates
Royal assent	8 May 2008
Commencement	mostly on 14 July 2008; see below for further dates
Status: Current legislation
History of passage through Parliament
Text of statute as originally enacted
Revised text of statute as amended

The Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008 (c. 4)^[4] is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which makes significant changes in many areas of the criminal justice system in England and Wales and, to a lesser extent, in Scotland and Northern Ireland. In particular, it changes the law relating to custodial sentences and the early release of prisoners to reduce prison overcrowding, which reached crisis levels in 2008. It also reduces the right of prison officers to take industrial action, and changed the law on the deportation of foreign criminals. It received royal assent on 8 May 2008,^[3] but most of its provisions came into force on various later dates. Many sections came into force on 14 July 2008.^[5]