NCJ Number
87043
Journal
Crimonologie Volume: 14 Issue: 2 Dated: (1981) Pages: 73-80
Date Published
1981
Length
8 pages
Annotation
The history of parole in Canada is marked by three successive periods: royal clemency before 1899, conditional release law between 1899 and 1958, and reformed conditional release law from 1958 on.
Abstract
During the earliest period, release was unsupervised and unconditional, limited to a few individually pardoned offenders. The 1899 law was fashioned after England's Penal Servitude Act and was implemented by a three-man staff. Statistics show 778 released parolees for 1930 and 942 for 1949. The reform initiating the third and current phase established parole commissions at the Provincial level and expanded the service considerably. About 2,000 parolees were served in 1960, 3,000 in 1968, and 6,000 in 1971. At first, the pardon was an instrument of recompense for offenders who collaborated with authorities. During the next stage, parole was an instrument of assistance to offenders who appeared to need supervision and support. Finally, it has evolved into an instrument of transition to facilitate ex-offender reintegration into society. Legally, parole retains the nature of a privilege, granted by discretionary decision of parole boards, whose practices are currently under considerable criticism and will continue to be scrutinized. This circumstance should be viewed as a feature of society's demand for public accountability and as an opportunity to gather data and gain a better understanding of criminal justice and rehabilitation processes.