Should a prisoner believe that he is eligible for parole, the prisoner must apply to the Correctional Supervision and Parole Board (“Board”) to be placed on parole. The Board, based on appropriate reports and recommendations from correctional officers, will consider and decide whether the prisoner should be granted parole. Should the Board dismiss the application, the prisoner or an interested party may request that the Review Board overturn the decision of the Board. Our courts may also be approached should a prisoner feel aggrieved by the decision of a Board or Review Board to deny him parole. Our courts may not order the Board to grant parole but may evaluate whether the decision to deny parole was properly considered and refer the matter back for reconsideration.Prisoners serving sentences for serious offences, or for which mandatory minimum sentences are prescribed by legislation, have determinable sentences, and the nature and seriousness of these offences result in these sentences being treated as similar to a sentence of life imprisonment and only a court can determine whether such prisoners may be placed on parole. These prisoners must serve at least four-fifths of their entire sentence or 25 years whichever period is the shorter, for them to be considered for parole, although a court can be approached to order that a prisoner be placed on parole after serving two-thirds of the entire sentence. The maximum amount of years that a prisoner can serve however without being considered for parole is 25 years. Lastly one should note that although prisoners have been granted parole it does not mean that the period of their sentence is over. Should a paroled prisoner break his parole conditions, parole may be revoked and the prisoner will have to serve the remainder of his sentence. Parole is a complex aspect of our corrections system and many considerations come into play when parole is being considered. These considerations are not always available to the public to help them understand why parole may have been granted.
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