Thank you, Mr. Chair. I would like to thank you for the opportunity to appear before you in connection with your consideration of Bill S-6, An Act to amend the Criminal Code and another Act.
I would first like to tell you a little about us at the National Parole Board. The Board is an agency within Public Safety that reports to Parliament through the Minister of Public Safety. It is an arm's length, independent administrative tribunal. The Board is responsible for making quality conditional release decisions for offenders serving federal sentences of two years or more.
We also make conditional release decisions for provincial offenders serving sentences of less than two years in provinces without their own parole boards. As well, we make pardon decisions and clemency recommendations.
The board is made up of 45 full-time board members, when at full complement, and to ensure that we process our cases as mandated under law, we may also use approximately 45 part-time board members.
One of the main pieces of legislation governing the board is the Corrections and Conditional Release Act. The CCRA provides for principles to guide the board in conditional release decision-making, most notably that the protection of society be the paramount consideration in the determination of any case and that the board make the least restrictive determination that is consistent with the protection of society.
The Board must first determine whether the the offender will not present an undue risk to society before the expiration of the sentence. It must also determine whether the release of the offender will contribute to the protection of society by facilitating the reintegration of the offender as a law-abiding citizen.
All decisions are based on an in-depth analysis of each case, and a through risk assessment based on all relevant and available information from police, courts, mental-health professionals, victims of crime, and others.
With respect to the faint hope clause, as we indicated to a Senate committee last June, the board has no role in the actual judicial review process itself.
If an offender's judicial review hearing is successful, impact on the board is minimal in that a positive judicial review decision results in adjusted parole eligibility dates. As you know, the offender is not automatically paroled. He or she must still undergo a hearing or a review.
Board members conduct a thorough risk assessment of all relevant available information, just as they would in any other parole case. If the board grants parole, the offender still remains subject to the original sentence imposed by the court, as well as to standard and, in some cases, special parole conditions.
Offenders paroled while serving a life sentence remain under Correctional Service Canada supervision for the rest of their lives, and they can have their parole revoked and be sent back to prison if they violate their conditions.
Judicial review cases are treated with the same rigour as other cases. Each case that comes to us is weighed on its own merits by independent Board members who receive intensive training on the requirements of the Corrections and Conditional Release Act, and in risk-based decision-making.
Thank you once again for inviting the National Parole Board to appear today and I will be happy to take your questions.