PRISONERS WORK FOR QUICK RELEASE

The new rules, which have been drafted by the Ministry of Justice, will be submitted to the Cabinet as a policy this week. The plans involve:

* rules overseeing the granting of merits towards parole and early release for prisoners convicted of non-capital offences who have served one third of their sentences;

* corporate tax rebates for companies that agree to employ prisoners released under the merit system, and

* the tightening of conditions by which prisoners can earn good behaviour remittances.

The plans form part of a suite of measures announced this month by Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar in the State’s ongoing fight against crime.

“The rules are being drafted pending possible Cabinet approval. We are at an advanced stage and the policy should go before Cabinet this week,” Minister of Justice Herbert Volney told Sunday Newsday.

“The colonial prison rules date back to 1838. We are in the process of re-working them. Previously, the Ministry of National Security resolved to import the prison rules of Ireland without adapting them. We found that unsatisfactory and inconsistent with our parole and offender management policy.”

The Justice Minister explained how the new parole system would work under a national parole board.

“The basic idea is to have a Government policy that reflects a shift away from a retributive idea of justice to a restorative idea of justice, where we return people to society rehabilitated.”

He explained who would be eligible for merits. “Persons convicted of murder or treason would not be involved in this,” he said.

“The point or merit system would apply to persons who are guilty of other offences and are on long-term sentences six years and above. For these cases, the merit system would serve to inform the parole board of their suitability for early release.”

The points would earn prisoners a chance to participate in an external work programme, which would see them living outside of the prison while wearing electronic monitoring bracelets.

“The person who earns enough points will be allowed an early release whereby they take a place in an external work programme, returning every evening to a low security facility,” he said. These convicts would sign contracts stipulating the terms of their release. Points will be earned by participation in a variety of courses and training schemes within prison. These include the areas of “life skills”, proper and good hygiene, courtesy/manners and anger management.

“By participating in some of these programmes you can speed up the process, whereby you would be brought before the parole board for early release. The parole board would be entitled to grant total release by two thirds into the sentence as well.”

What if something goes wrong at the early stages?

“If when you are on the external work scheme you choose to breach the terms of your contract or agreement, the facility is withdrawn and you are sent inside and you have to start to earn merit points from scratch,” he said.

“It gives you a chance to make a better person of yourself.”

The Minister of Justice noted incentives to prospective employers will also have to be given.

“The State will work out a corporation tax rebate system for a company which employs a tagged person who is granted parole,” he said. He noted that currently, although “good behaviour” is taken into account in sentencing reviews, it is almost only used for the final third of prison terms and is automatically ascribed once no major incidents involving the prisoner occurs. The new rules, he said, would open things up substantially and also impose clear criteria for the earning of good behaviour points.

“Now you would have to earn it,” he said.

In a statement issued during the state of emergency extension debate on September 3, Persad-Bissessar said, “Our present prison rules are archaic and outdated. They were originally drafted in 1838 and have been the subject to subsequent ad hoc amendments.

“Concerns have been raised as to whether these rules comply with and satisfy international human rights conventions. The new prison rules will emphasise rehabilitation and restorative justice and will be fully compliant with our international human rights obligations.”

The prison population is an estimated 4,321 and counting, with rates of incarceration having increased since the declaration of a state of emergency last month.

Prisons Commissioner John Rougier, yesterday, noted that a points system for earlier paroles would in fact have a dent on prison populations, but he warned that there are several factors that would have to be considered in applying such a policy.

“It will reduce the population,” he told Sunday Newsday.

“But remember that conditions are in place for rehabilitating the individual, and in some cases when they are released they may simply come back in.”

He noted that currently, good behaviour, tied to the absence of any disciplinary incidents, is considered in getting a remittance of the last third of a sentence. Good behaviour is also normally a factor when seeking a pardon. Efforts to introduce an earlier parole period from one third into the sentence, he said, would necessitate several factors being taken into consideration.

“Remember these people have committed crimes and the punishment that is imposed is ordered by the court,” he said.

“If we are doing this then we must also consider the reactions of the victims of the crimes, the population at large and the objectives of the State.”

He noted that each case would have to be considered on its own merit in any system introduced given the complexity of the matter and the appurtenant risks.

“All these things have to be taken into consideration,” he said.

In relation to several other measures announced last month by Persad-Bissessar to deal with crime, such as the electronic tagging system, Volney said legislation for that measure is being drafted “as a priority”. He said requests for proposals were being prepared for issue in relation to a first batch of 1,000 electronic bracelets, pending final legislative approvals.

New legislation to amend the DNA Act is before the Cabinet’s Legislative Review Committee once more.

“We are going through it clause by clause,” Volney said. Legislation expected to abolish the time-consuming preliminary inquiry procedures is due to be considered by the same committee this week.