Refusing Parole
Members of the Parole Authority are provided with the documents they require to make their decision a week prior to the meeting. The material is read by the members before they meet on a Thursday or Friday in a private meeting. Once in the meeting, all the members will discuss the offenders listed for the meeting and discuss whether release to parole is appropriate, being guided in their decision making by the legislation.
If a decision is made to refuse an offender's release to parole, the reasons for doing so must be
recorded.
After determining that parole will be refused, the Authority determine whether the offender should automatically be granted a public review hearing, or whether the offender is required to convince the Authority, by way of an application, that a review hearing should be granted.
When an offender is refused parole, they are provided with the documents the Authority relied upon in making their decision. They also receive information that outlines why the Authority determined that it was not appropriate to grant parole.
If a review hearing is granted automatically, a document is sent to the offender to advise them of their appearance date at the review hearing and asks the offender to nominate a legal representative.
If the Authority has determined that an offender needs to apply for a review hearing, a document is sent to the offender explaining this information and asks them to complete the application and provide reasons as to why a review hearing is appropriate. This completed form is then returned back to the Authority for consideration in a private meeting.
In the event that an offender does not seek a review hearing or a review hearing is not granted and more than 12 months remains on the sentence, an offender can apply for release to parole on their anniversary date. In certain circumstances, offenders can apply for earlier parole consideration under the provisions of manifest injustice.