Ministers will be given powers to block the release of serious offenders as part of changes to the Parole Board announced by the Justice Secretary.
Dominic Raab said recent board decisions had undermined public confidence.
The minister also said he wanted to involve more people with law enforcement experience in the process.
And he said he would ask the parole board to reconsider a decision to release Tracey Connelly, baby P.’s mother.
The 246 members of the Parole Board of England and Wales make risk assessments and decisions on whether prisoners can be safely released or transferred to an open prison.
A review of the panel was launched by the government after the release of so-called black cab rapist John Worboys sparked public outcry.
The decision to release Worboys – who had been convicted of 19 offenses against 12 women – was later overturned in court, leading to the resignation of the parole board chairman.
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Citing the Worboys case, among others, Mr Raab said the case for board reform was “clear and clear”.
Speaking to Parliament, he said: “In recent years, a number of decisions to release prisoners have led to unrest and, regrettably, an erosion of public confidence.”
Under the proposed changes, the Parole Board could refer cases to the Attorney General if they do not “come with confidence” that the tests for an offender’s release have been met.
The Attorney General would also have the power to refuse to release criminals convicted of murder, rape, terrorism and causing the death of a child.
Those suggestions come as Dominic Raab says he will seek to appeal a parole board decision that Tracey Connelly, who is responsible for the death of her own child, can be safely released.
And this story sums up the tension in the system.
The Parole Board is essentially a court – a legal process independent of politics but with a clear duty to keep the public safe.
Dominic Raab said the public expects ministers to protect them and so he has proposed his package as appropriate reforms to achieve that goal.
The creation of a new power where ministers can prevent the release of some criminals convicted of murder, rape, terrorism or causing a child’s death is quite a legal shift.
Over the decades, Parliament has stripped them of that power in a constitutional move to keep politics outside the judiciary.
It is possible that the package conflicts with human rights laws.
Mr Raab acknowledges that – and says his separate plans to rewrite the human rights law will make his reforms watertight.
Mr Raab said it was “striking” that only 5% of parole board members had a law enforcement background and that the government was looking to hire more people with such experience.
Victims also become more involved in the process, with the Parole Board required to consider input from victims.
Labour’s shadow Justice Secretary Steve Reed said he broadly welcomed the changes, adding that too many victims felt their views were “not sufficiently taken into account in either parole decisions or sentencing”.
However, he questioned whether ministers could be trusted to make the right decisions on parole, noting that the Attorney General had endorsed the decision to move sex offender Paul Robson to an open prison.
Mr Robson fled North Sea Camp but was later caught and sentenced to eight months for escaping.
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