Authority

Corrections and Conditional Release Act and Regulations

Purpose

To provide guidance to Board Members in making conditional release decisions in cases where an offender has tested positive to the HIV virus, and therefore may or may not have developed Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS).

Policy

• HIV status in and of itself is not a factor in risk assessment or decision making. In its risk assessment and decision making, NPB will not require information on whether or not an inmate tests HIV antibody positive.
  
  
• The Board is committed to giving full consideration to applications for release, including parole by exception, where necessary in order to ensure medical treatment or palliative care not otherwise available within the institution. The Board is sensitive to humanitarian considerations with respect to all terminally ill offenders. Consideration for release must always take place within the context of the risk to society.
  
  
• The Board will consider in its risk assessment evidence of behaviour or expressed intent which demonstrates wanton disregard for public safety and which may cause loss of life or serious harm, such as through HIV transmission, and may use such evidence in reaching its decision.
  
  
• The Board is committed to ensuring that training and education in the understanding of the medical and social dimensions of HIV infection is available to Board members and staff.

Cross reference

Parole by exception

Implementation date

May 1, 1991

Authority

Corrections and Conditional Release Act, section 109

Purpose

This policy is intended to guide the Board's reviews of applications for the cancellation or modification of prohibitions imposed under section 259, Criminal Code of Canada.

Background

The authority vested in the Board by section 109 is similar to the clemency powers exercised by the Governor in Council in that it is a broad discretionary power that permits remedies that directly interfere with an order of a criminal court. It is not an integral part of the correctional process, as is the case with conditional release.

Policy

The National Parole Board may approve the cancellation or modification of a prohibition order made pursuant to section 259 of the Criminal Code where:

• There is evidence of undue hardship, including economic, mental, or physical suffering or privation, that is substantial and out of proportion to the nature of the offence for which the prohibition was ordered.
  
  
• Other remedies to the identified hardship do not exist, are not lawfully available in the individual case, or recourse to them would result in greater hardship.
  
  
• There is evidence that altering or removing the prohibition order would not constitute an undue risk to the community.

Applications

Applications for the cancellation or modification of a driving prohibition order will be directed to National Parole Board, Clemency and Pardons Division, which will be responsible for investigations including contact with the appropriate provincial licensing authority.

Voting

Two members will vote on each case. Should the members reviewing an application determine that an interview should be conducted prior to a decision being rendered, that interview should be conducted in accordance with the Board's Interview Guidelines for Clemency and Pardons.

Cross Reference

Criminal Code of Canada, subsection 259(1)
Interview Guidelines for Clemency and Pardons.

Effective Date

July 1, 1993.