Ten prisoners were set free from jail in Northern Ireland today after a landmark ruling from Europe that their human rights had been abused.
The prisoners had been set to be released last month but had been kept in jail after losing remission for committing a range of offences.
The decision to release them was made following the recent ruling by the European Court of Human Rights that powers of prison governors to impose loss of remission for offences committed inside contravened the right to a fair trial.
Their release came hours after an application for judicial review in Belfast High Court by a prisoner in Magilligan, Co Derry, who was serving a six-month burglary sentence.
His date of release was prolonged after he lost three weeks' remission for a breach of prison discipline.
During an emergency sitting at the court on Monday night his lawyers argued that he should be released immediately after the European court ruling.
Up to 900 prisoners have already been released in similar circumstances in England and Wales.
The European decision followed complaints raised by two prisoners in England who claimed they were being tried unlawfully because the governor was not an independent judge.
A spokesman for the Northern Ireland Prison Service said other cases would now be reviewed and release dates recalculated in the light of the court ruling.
The Director of the Prison Service Peter Russell said his main concern was whether this posed any threat to prison discipline.
"I'm confident that we can handle this. Governors have a range of other punishments available to them. We will for instance consider whether we should be reporting more things to the police than we currently do."
Mr Russell said governors could also confine unruly prisoners to their cells or withdraw other privileges if they cause trouble.