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The Fiji Corrections Service said prisoners could be released early through sentence commutation and parole.
The statement was made in response to confusion surrounding early release from rehab.
The Fiji Corrections Service said a sentence commutation was when a prisoner’s sentence was shortened due to good behaviour.
Under the Correctional Services Act 2006, the Commissioner of Correctional Services can reduce a prisoner’s sentence by one-third if they behave well.
Parole is when an inmate is released before serving his or her full sentence, but must report regularly to supervisors and continue to behave well.
The Parole Board was established by the Corrective Services Act 2006 and is responsible for deciding whether prisoners can be released on parole.
The statement further mentioned that there is confusion about how the two processes work together.
According to FCS, the Supreme Court said that the provisions of Section 27(4) of the Act meant that the prisoner must serve the entire non-parole period fixed by the court.
The FCS said this created confusion about how sentence commutation and parole worked together.
The Supreme Court clarified that court-imposed non-parole periods restrict the Parole Board’s ability to release inmates early but do not affect the Parole Commissioner’s ability to grant pardons.
The court’s non-parole period limits only the power of the Parole Board, not the Parole Commissioner, to shorten a sentence by commutation.
It is recommended that section 27(4) of the Correctional Services Act 2006 be deleted.
The change will ensure that the rules regarding sentence commutation and parole are clear and easy to understand.
Removing section 27(4) would help everyone understand how sentence reduction and parole work.
FCS reiterated that the change would make the system more fair and transparent, benefiting inmates and the correctional system.
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