Two inmates at the Bordelais Correctional Facilty (BCF) who served over 20 years for murder, have a chance at being granted parole. This comes following the establishment of a ‘Parole system’— which the Department of Home Affairs and National Security says will position Saint Lucia to raise its Human Rights profile.
The STAR was informed by the department that the names of the inmates will not be disclosed.
The two parole hearings are scheduled to take place at the BCF on Wednesday, December 16. The department says that the two inmates, “who have served over 20 years of their custodial sentences for Murder will have their cases heard by the seven member Parole Board. Both eligible inmates are 47 years old and may stand a chance of going home under specific terms and conditions to which they must adhere.”
The department noted that the Parole system is a creature of the Criminal Code 2004 Sub- part D, sections 1136 – 1155 and will be administered by the Department of Probation and Parole Services, under the auspices of the Minister for Home Affairs and National Security.
Section 1140 states that: “Every inmate serving a sentence of more than 12 months is eligible for parole after having served a period of 1 /3 of such sentence or 12 months, whichever is the greater.” An inmate who is eligible for parole “may make a written application to the Board for the grant of parole and may make such written representations in support of the grant to him or her of parole as he or she thinks fit.”
The Parole Board shall grant parole to an applicant if the Board is satisfied that:
(a) he or she has derived maximum benefit from his or her imprisonment and he or she is, at the time of his or her application for parole, fit to be released from the correctional facility on parole;
(b) the reform and rehabilitation of the applicant will be aided by parole; and
(c) the grant of parole to the applicant will not, in the opinion of the Board, constitute a danger to society.
Today, December 10 is observed as Human Rights Day and Director of Probation and Parole Mrs. Yolanda Jules–Louis says that “this significant accomplishment demonstrates that social justice and Human Rights is high on the national radar.”
“The Department has only been providing Probation Services prior to now. However, we along with our partners led by the Minister and Department of Home Affairs and National Security have been working assiduously for about two years straight to implement a Parole system here on island. This year 2020, we have all the pleasure to announce that we have started providing Parole Services. As a result, we are going to have our first ever Parole hearing in Saint Lucia next week,” she said in a press statement by the department.
You can learn more details about the parole system by reading the relevant sections in Saint Lucia’s Criminal Code: http://www.govt.lc/www/legislation/Criminal%20Code.pdf
