News | Sunday, 22 February 2009

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Parole, victim-offender mediation in next reform

Matthew Vella
Criminal offenders are going to be made to say ‘sorry’ to their victims. Such is the next legal reform planned by Justice and Home Affairs Minister Carmel Mifsud Bonnici, who has presented a White Paper on restorative justice and the introduction of parole.
The paper is also proposing that victims of crime receive compensation from the offender or, when this is not possible, even from the State.
“The offender is helped to reform by admitting his mistake, paying compensation to the victim and to the State, educating him again in order to become once more a law-abiding citizen,” Mifsud Bonnici said, in his presentation of the White Paper.
Restorative justice is a theory of justice that emphasises repairing the harm caused or revealed by criminal behaviour. It is usually accomplished through cooperative processes such as mediated encounters between the criminal and their victims.
Mifsud Bonnici said that punishment is not enough to restore justice when crimes are committed.
“Prison alone does not bring some criminals into their senses. Sometimes prison can be an obstacle for the reparation of the damage done… In order to reform himself truly, the offender has to show that he understood that he has done a mistake, by paying his debt to the victim, to society and to the State.”
The White Paper however states that restorative justice does not guarantee early release for prisoners.
“A prisoner’s early release remains strictly conditional upon the individual prisoner showing that he is making serious efforts to increase the possibilities for his reintegration into society as the offender would show that he has realised the damage caused by his actions and is bent on true reform.”
Factors such as proper behaviour in prison, as well as participation in educational programmes, and victim reparation have a central role to play in this regard.
The White Paper says that some might be sceptical about the conditional release of selected prisoners in the community before ‘completing their time’.
“However, more time spent in prison does not necessarily imply that one is avoiding relapse. In fact, the statistics provided reveal that too many prisoners are relapsers, some indeed are multi-recidivists.”

Introduction of parole
The government is proposing the setting-up of an Offender Assessment Board (OAB), which would be made up of probation officers, and professionals in psychology and sociology, to assess the risks posed by offenders and their needs for reintegration.
The OAB would prepare a preliminary report on each prisoner after sentencing. This report would feature an analysis of problem areas that may have contributed to the criminal act committed as well as a reintegration plan – an action plan for reform and reintegration.
At this stage, the OAB would also liaise with the liaison officer within the Probation Service Victim Support Unit (PSVSU) so that victim reparation would start immediately, whether imposed by Court order or otherwise.
A second assessment will then be conducted when a prisoner becomes eligible for a Parole Licence, in order to examine the progress made. The second assessment report will feature a risk assessment to state the score for potential risk and harm an offender may pose upon release.
This report would bear most of the weight on the final decision on granting or withholding of the Parole Licence of the prisoner, although the parole board would also take into consideration any other evidence concerning the prisoner as necessary.
It is being recommended that the parole procedure would apply in respect of prisoners sentenced for not less than 12 months in prison, irrespective of whether the minimum 12-month period results from a single sentence or from a number of sentences that amount to a total of at least 12 months.
Moreover, the parole board would impose certain conditions on the prisoner’s release. typical conditions would include limitations on freedom of movement such as daytime restrictions, residing within a certain town or village and not leaving without explicit Court permission, electronic tagging, be in employment, rehabilitation from any dependency, and any other conditions that the Board may deem fit on a case by case basis.
The board can also impose parole conditions suggested by the victim, such as: no contact with the victim or his family, travel restrictions, other restrictions, and compensation to the victim. Such conditions may also be imposed at the request of other competent authorities, such as the police or governmental or non-governmental organisations.
It is being recommended that a person who behaves satisfactorily under parole for the duration of his sentence, or for a period of five years, or as established by the Board, whichever is less, is considered to have paid his debt to society.
People not eligible for parole include detainees under the provisions of the Immigration Act, prisoners subject to extradition, foreign nationals who are to be deported at the end of their sentence, prisoners incarcerated for subverting, attempting to subvert or conspiring to subvert the Government of Malta, terrorists, violent and dangerous criminals, and prisoners on life sentences, unless the latter are subject to a petition to the President of the Republic.

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