Corrections and Conditional Release Act (S.C. 1992, c. 20)

Rules

Marginal note:Rules

97 Subject to this Part and the regulations, the Commissioner may make rules

• (a) for the management of the Service;

• (b) for the matters described in section 4; and

• (c) generally for carrying out the purposes and provisions of this Part and the regulations.

Commissioner’s Directives

Marginal note:Commissioner’s Directives

• 98 (1) The Commissioner may designate as Commissioner’s Directives any or all rules made under section 97.

• Marginal note:Accessibility

  (2) The Commissioner’s Directives shall be accessible to offenders, staff members and the public.

PART IIConditional Release, Detention and Long-term Supervision

Interpretation

Marginal note:Definitions

• 99 (1) In this Part,

  Board

  Board means the Parole Board of Canada continued by section 103 and includes a provincial parole board where it exercises jurisdiction in respect of parole as provided by section 112 or in respect of which any other provision of this Part is, by virtue of section 113, rendered applicable; (Commission)

  Commissioner

  Commissioner has the same meaning as in Part I; (commissaire)

  community-based residential facility

  community-based residential facility has the same meaning as in subsection 66(3); (établissement résidentiel communautaire)

  day parole

  day parole means the authority granted to an offender by the Board or a provincial parole board to be at large during the offender’s sentence in order to prepare the offender for full parole or statutory release, the conditions of which require the offender to return to a penitentiary, community-based residential facility, provincial correctional facility or other location each night or at another specified interval; (semi-liberté)

  full parole

  full parole means the authority granted to an offender by the Board or a provincial parole board to be at large during the offender’s sentence; (libération conditionnelle totale)

  Indigenous

  Indigenous has the same meaning as in Part I; (autochtone)

  institutional head

  institutional head has the same meaning as in Part I; (Version anglaise seulement)

  long-term supervision

  long-term supervision has the same meaning as in Part I; (surveillance de longue durée)

  Minister

  Minister has the same meaning as in Part I; (ministre)

  offender

  offender means

  • (a) a person, other than a young person within the meaning of the Youth Criminal Justice Act, who is under a sentence imposed before or after the coming into force of this section

    • (i) pursuant to an Act of Parliament or, to the extent that this Part applies, pursuant to a provincial Act, or

    • (ii) on conviction for criminal or civil contempt of court if the sentence does not include a requirement that the offender return to that court, or

  • (b) a young person within the meaning of the Youth Criminal Justice Act with respect to whom an order, committal or direction under section 76, 89, 92 or 93 of that Act has been made,

  but does not include a person whose only sentence is a sentence being served intermittently pursuant to section 732 of the Criminal Code; (délinquant)

  parole

  parole means full parole or day parole; (libération conditionnelle)

  parole supervisor

  parole supervisor has the meaning assigned by the definition staff member in subsection 2(1) or means a person entrusted by the Service with the guidance and supervision of an offender; (surveillant de liberté conditionnelle)

  penitentiary

  penitentiary has the same meaning as in Part I; (pénitencier)

  provincial parole board

  provincial parole board means the Ontario Board of Parole, la Commission québécoise des libérations conditionnelles or any other parole board established by the legislature or the lieutenant governor in council of a province; (commission provinciale)

  regulations

  regulations means regulations made by the Governor in Council pursuant to section 156; (règlement ou réglementaire)

  sentence

  sentence has the same meaning as in Part I; (peine ou peine d’emprisonnement)

  serious harm

  serious harm means severe physical injury or severe psychological damage; (dommage grave)

  Service

  Service has the same meaning as in Part I; (Service)

  statutory release

  statutory release means release from imprisonment subject to supervision before the expiration of an offender’s sentence, to which an offender is entitled under section 127; (libération d’office)

  statutory release date

  statutory release date means the date determined in accordance with section 127; (date de libération d’office)

  unescorted temporary absence

  unescorted temporary absence means an unescorted temporary absence from penitentiary authorized under section 116; (permission de sortir sans escorte)

  victim

  victim has the same meaning as in Part I; (victime)

  working day

  working day has the same meaning as in Part I. (jour ouvrable)

• Marginal note:References to expiration of sentence

  (2) For the purposes of this Part, a reference to the expiration according to law of the sentence of an offender shall be read as a reference to the day on which the sentence expires, without taking into account

  • (a) any period during which the offender could be entitled to statutory release;

  • (b) in the case of a youth sentence imposed under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, the portion to be served under supervision in the community subject to conditions under paragraph 42(2)(n) of that Act or under conditional supervision under paragraph 42(2)(o), (q) or (r) of that Act; or

  • (c) any remission that stands to the credit of the offender on November 1, 1992.

• Marginal note:Exercise of powers, etc.

  (3) Except as otherwise provided by this Part or by the regulations,

  • (a) powers, duties and functions assigned to the Commissioner by or pursuant to this Part may only be exercised or performed by the Commissioner or, where the Commissioner is absent or incapacitated or where the office is vacant, by the person acting in the place of the Commissioner; and

  • (b) powers, duties and functions assigned to the institutional head by or pursuant to this Part may only be exercised or performed by the institutional head or, where the institutional head is absent or incapacitated or where the office is vacant, by the person who, at the relevant time, is in charge of the penitentiary.

Marginal note:Application to persons subject to long-term supervision order

99.1 A person who is required to be supervised by a long-term supervision order is deemed to be an offender for the purposes of this Part, and sections 100, 101, 109 to 111 and 140 to 145 apply, with such modifications as the circumstances require, to the person and to the long-term supervision of that person.

Marginal note:Young persons

99.2 In this Part, a young person within the meaning of the Youth Criminal Justice Act with respect to whom a committal or direction under section 89, 92 or 93 of that Act has been made begins to serve his or her sentence on the day on which the sentence comes into force in accordance with subsection 42(12) of that Act.

Purpose and Principles

Marginal note:Purpose of conditional release

100 The purpose of conditional release is to contribute to the maintenance of a just, peaceful and safe society by means of decisions on the timing and conditions of release that will best facilitate the rehabilitation of offenders and their reintegration into the community as law-abiding citizens.

Marginal note:Paramount consideration

100.1 The protection of society is the paramount consideration for the Board and the provincial parole boards in the determination of all cases.

Marginal note:Principles guiding parole boards

101 The principles that guide the Board and the provincial parole boards in achieving the purpose of conditional release are as follows:

• (a) parole boards take into consideration all relevant available information, including the stated reasons and recommendations of the sentencing judge, the nature and gravity of the offence, the degree of responsibility of the offender, information from the trial or sentencing process and information obtained from victims, offenders and other components of the criminal justice system, including assessments provided by correctional authorities;

• (b) parole boards enhance their effectiveness and openness through the timely exchange of relevant information with victims, offenders and other components of the criminal justice system and through communication about their policies and programs to victims, offenders and the general public;

• (c) parole boards make the least restrictive determinations that are consistent with the protection of society;

• (d) parole boards adopt and are guided by appropriate policies and their members are provided with the training necessary to implement those policies; and

• (e) offenders are provided with relevant information, reasons for decisions and access to the review of decisions in order to ensure a fair and understandable conditional release process.

Marginal note:Criteria for granting parole

102 The Board or a provincial parole board may grant parole to an offender if, in its opinion,

• (a) the offender will not, by reoffending, present an undue risk to society before the expiration according to law of the sentence the offender is serving; and

• (b) the release of the offender will contribute to the protection of society by facilitating the reintegration of the offender into society as a law-abiding citizen.

Constitution and Jurisdiction of Board

Marginal note:Board continued

103 The National Parole Board is continued as the Parole Board of Canada and consists of not more than 60 full-time members and a number of part-time members all of whom are appointed by the Governor in Council, on the recommendation of the Minister, to hold office during good behaviour for periods not exceeding 10 years and three years, respectively.

Marginal note:Chairperson and Executive Vice-Chairperson

104 The Governor in Council shall designate one of the full-time members of the Board to be its Chairperson and, on the recommendation of the Minister, one of the full-time members to be its Executive Vice-Chairperson.

Marginal note:Membership

• 105 (1) Members appointed to the Board shall be sufficiently diverse in their backgrounds to be able to collectively represent community values and views in the work of the Board and to inform the community with respect to unescorted temporary absence, parole and statutory release.

• Marginal note:Part-time members

  (2) A part-time member of the Board has the same powers and duties as a full-time member of the Board.

• Marginal note:Divisions

  (3) Each member of the Board other than the Chairperson and the Executive Vice-Chairperson shall be assigned to a division of the Board specified in the instrument of appointment.

• Marginal note:Idem

  (4) All members of the Board are ex officio members of every division of the Board and may, with the approval of the Chairperson, sit on a panel of any division of the Board, subject to such conditions and during such periods as are approved by the Chairperson.

• Marginal note:Policies

  (5) Members of the Board shall exercise their functions in accordance with policies adopted pursuant to subsection 151(2).

• Marginal note:Quorum

  (6) Subject to subsection 152(3), the review under this Part of any case within a particular class of cases shall be made by a panel that consists of at least the number of members of the Board specified in the regulations as the minimum number of members for cases of that class.

Marginal note:Substitute members

• 106 (1) In the event that a full-time member of the Board is absent or unable to act, the Governor in Council, on the recommendation of the Minister, may appoint a substitute member to act in the place of that member.

• Marginal note:Idem

  (2) A substitute member appointed pursuant to subsection (1) has all the powers and duties of a full-time member of the Board, subject to any limitation on those powers and duties that the Chairperson directs.

Marginal note:Jurisdiction of Board

• 107 (1) Subject to this Act, the Prisons and Reformatories Act, the International Transfer of Offenders Act, the National Defence Act, the Crimes Against Humanity and War Crimes Act and the Criminal Code, the Board has exclusive jurisdiction and absolute discretion

  • (a) to grant parole to an offender;

  • (b) to terminate or to revoke the parole or statutory release of an offender, whether or not the offender is in custody under a warrant of apprehension issued as a result of the suspension of the parole or statutory release;

  • (c) to cancel a decision to grant parole to an offender, or to cancel the suspension, termination or revocation of the parole or statutory release of an offender;

  • (d) to review and to decide the case of an offender referred to it pursuant to section 129; and

  • (e) to authorize or to cancel a decision to authorize the unescorted temporary absence of an offender who is serving, in a penitentiary,

    • (i) a life sentence imposed as a minimum punishment or commuted from a sentence of death,

    • (ii) a sentence for an indeterminate period, or

    • (iii) a sentence for an offence set out in Schedule I or II.

• Marginal note:Offences under provincial Acts

  (2) The jurisdiction of the Board under subsection (1) extends to any offender sentenced to a sentence imposed under a provincial Act that is to be served in a penitentiary pursuant to section 743.1 of the Criminal Code, whether that sentence is to be served alone or concurrently with or consecutively to one or more other sentences imposed under an Act of Parliament or a provincial Act.