NCJ Number
81412
Date Published
1981
Length
19 pages
Annotation
This booklet summarizes the parole system in Canada, including the Parole Board's functions and criteria governing parole decisions.
Abstract
A history of parole covers its English origins, the 1899 law giving Canada's Governor General authority to grant prisoners conditional releases, and the current system in which an independent board has this power. Following a description of the membership, organization, and responsibilities of the Parole Board, types of release from prisons which it supervises are identified. Eligibility criteria for day parole, full parole, and unescorted temporary release are detailed. Parole regulations pertaining to special offense categories are also covered, such as violent offenders, habitual criminals, and dangerous sexual offenders. Factors that the Board considers in deciding whether to release a prisoner on parole are then reviewed, along with the hearing process and Board voting rules. The discussion of parole supervision addresses standard conditions of release, supervisory agencies, suspension, and revocation. Appeals of the Parole Board's decision to revoke and pardons are discussed. A concluding statement emphasizes that the Board believes the public is better protected when inmates undergo a gradual release program and are supervised in the community than when they are abruptly released at the sentence's expiration. Photographs, an eligibility table, and a French version of the text are included.