SALINIDAD

The Prisoners (Release under Supervision) Ordinance, enacted in 1987, became operational on 1 July 1988 with the establishment of the Release under Supervision Board. This “Release under Supervision Scheme” was Hong Kong’s version of parole arrangement for prisoners and it had taken fifteen years for this Scheme to secure the necessary support from the public and the Government’s endorsement to become law.⁴³

The parole scheme in England started on 1 April 1968 under the provisions of the Criminal Justice Act 1967. The scheme was basing on the assumption that some

42 Correctional Services Department, Report on Drug Addiction Treatment Centre Admissions, 1997, p.

1.

43 See Hong Kong Hansard, 8 July and 14 October 1987.

prisoners would have a better chance of reformation if they could be released earlier than their scheduled release dates whilst subject to some form of supervision. All prisoners serving a sentence of imprisonment of eighteen months or more were eligible to be considered for early release on parole when they had completed one-third of the sentence or twelve months, whichever longer. Most prisoners had chosen to have their cases reviewed and 49% of the eligible prisoners were granted parole at some time in their sentences. A small number of those were recalled whilst on parole for breach of licence conditions. ⁴⁴

Garner, Commissioner of Prisons in Hong Kong, found this United Kingdom scheme interesting and had similarities to Hong Kong’s Training and Detention Centres programme of the young offenders as well as the Drug Addiction Treatment Centre programmes for both adults and young addicts. Under these programmes, the inmates were normally released before their maximum detention period to undergo a period of compulsory after-care supervision. Commissioner Garner proposed to the central Government as early as 1972 that a similar parole scheme should be introduced to the adult prisoners in Hong Kong. With the support of the Colonial Secretary, a number of Government departments, which included the Judiciary, the Police, the Home Affairs, the Social Welfare and the Medical and Health Services were asked to study the Commissioner of Prison’s proposal.

The deliberations of this proposal were held behind closed doors and kept within the concerned Government Departments only. It was generally felt at the time that the public should not be informed of this topic being deliberated within the Government.

44 Home Office, (1977) Prisons and the Prisoners – The Work of the Prison Service in England and Wales, London: HMSO, pp. 64-65.

Public misgivings would arouse on Government’s apparent leniency to criminals at a time when crime rates were high. It was only in 1975 that Commissioner Garner stated openly in the newspaper of his support on the proposed parole scheme.⁴⁵ The Governor in his Address to the Legislative Council on 8 October 1975 however stated that: “The question of release under supervision is being looked into. There is merit as well as danger in such a scheme and it will be necessary to examine the proposal from every angle before arriving at any firm recommendation.”⁴⁶

Nothing happened after the Governor’s reveal of the proposal until the subject was brought up again this time by a new Governor Sir Edward Youde during his annual address at the Legislative Council on 1983 saying that:

“Other important developments will include the introduction of the parole and pre-release employment schemes, which will help offenders on their release to integrate themselves properly into society and not to turn again to crime. These schemes represent an extension of existing correctional programme, and will, we hope, eventually lead to a reduction in our penal population.”⁴⁷

It was eventually reported in the media that the matter was being considered by the Security Branch, the Correctional Services and the Legal Department but this news had attracted little publicity. It was also explained by the media of why nothing had happened on this proposal after 1975 as “In 1975 the idea came before the Executive Council but was rejected – after an influential working party had spent three years debating and wrangling over the details.”⁴⁸

45 See South China Morning Post, 23 March 1975.

46 Hong Kong Hansard, 8 October 1975, p. 32.

47 Hong Kong Hansard, 5 October 1983, p. 32.

48 See South China Morning Post, 31 December 1983.

It was in 1985 when the Attorney General Michael Thomas revealed that a Bill providing for the early release of prisoners under supervision was being drafted.⁴⁹ The debate on this draft Bill was again laborious and it was reported in the media again at end of 1986 that the proposal was revised and would take another six months before the Bill could be ready for legislation. It was mentioned that “A tight lid of secrecy was clamped on the matter as it was considered highly sensitive” and “the Government is concerned that the crime rate would soar once people got wind that a parole scheme was imminent.”⁵⁰

The Prisoners (Release under Supervision) Bill 1987 was finally tabled at the Legislative Council for the 1^st and 2^nd reading in 1987. It was explained by the Secretary of Security that:

“The idea of introducing a system of parole in Hong Kong has been under consideration for more than 15 years. We have long considered that there are considerable benefits both for society and for the persons involved in such a scheme. The problem has been, in the past, a lack of experience in this field and a doubt as to whether the public would support it. I am pleased to say that I believe both problems have been overcome.”⁵¹

There were two separate Schemes included under the Bill for prisoners to be released on parole, namely, the ‘Release under Supervision Scheme’ and the ‘Pre-release Employment Scheme’. Under the first Scheme, a prisoner who has served half of his sentence or twenty months of a sentence of three years or more, whichever is longer, may be released to live and work outside the prison. A prisoner opts for release under this Scheme would forfeit his entire remission which equals to one third of his sentence. He is required to undergo supervision by the after-care officers of the

49 See Hong Kong Standard, 19 March 1985.

50 See Hong Kong Standard, 19 December 1986.

51 Hong Kong Hansard, 8 July 1987, p. 1935.

Correctional Services Department until the expiration of his full sentence. He may be required to reside in the Correctional Service Department operated hostels and is subject to be recalled back to prison if found in breach of his supervision conditions.

For the ‘Pre-release Employment Scheme’, a prisoner with a sentence of two years or more may be released within six months of completing his sentence with remission allowed. He is allowed to go out to work during day time and required to return to the Correctional Service Department operated hostels after work. He is again liable to be recalled back to prison if found in breach of his supervision conditions.

It was emphasised during the Legislative Council meetings that the Schemes would be highly selective for the prisoners and was estimated that successful applicants within the first year of operation would be less than 90 in total as “no more than 5 percent of those eligible will be granted release under supervision on their first application.”⁵²

The Prisoners (Release under Supervision) Ordinance became operational on 1 July 1988 with the establishment of the Release under Supervision Board. The Board consists of not less than five members appointed by the Governor and chaired by a High Court Judge with members includinga medical practitioner with experience in psychiatry and the others to have experience or interest in the rehabilitation of offenders. The Board would consider applications from prisoners and refer the recommended cases to the Governor for early release from prison.⁵³

52 Hong Kong Hansard, 14 October 1987, p. 101.

53 See Prisoners (Release under Supervision) Ordinance, Cap. 325, Laws of Hong Kong.

In the first year of operation, a total of 103 prisoners applied for the Release under Supervision Scheme and only four were successful in their application. 174 prisoners applied for the Pre-release Employment Scheme and 14 of them were approved. As after-care supervision could only be extended to prisoners who could remain in Hong Kong after discharge, non Hong Kong prisoners who are subject to deportation after release are excluded from these two early release schemes.

With such a low approval rate, the applications from prisoners dropped sharply and from 1988 up to the end of 1997, there were only 309 prisoners applied for the Release under Supervision Scheme with 45 or 14.6% successful in their applications.

There was a higher rate of applications for the Pre-release Employment Scheme with 1,014 applications and 170 or 16.8% of them were successful during the same period.⁵⁴ These figures were much lower than the original estimation given by the Correctional Services Department.⁵⁵

On the other hand, owing to the small number of cases being released under supervision, the Correctional Services Department’s after-care officers were able to provide more intense supervision over these cases. Up to 30 September 2000, a total of 228 prisoners were early released to undergo either one of these two Schemes.

Only one supervisee’s supervision order was revoked by the Release under Supervision Board and he was recalled back to prison.⁵⁶

54 Calculated from Annex III, Table showing ‘Release under Supervision Board Number of Applications and Approvals to join the Two Early Release Schemes (1988-2000)’ in Release under Supervision Board Fourth Report. Hong Kong: Government Printer.

55 See Table (3.3) and (3.4) in Chan, T.T. (1990) An Anatomy of Parole System in Hong Kong. MSc Dissertation, University of Hong Kong.

56 Release under Supervision Board, Fourth Report, (2000), Hong Kong, p. 9.