Church council urges government to maintain "faint hope clause".The Church Council on Justice and Corrections, a coalition of 11 denominations including The Presbyterian Church in Canada The Presbyterian Church in Canada is the name of a Protestant Christian church, of presbyterian and reformed theology and polity, serving in Canada under this name since 1875, although the United Church of Canada claimed the right to the name from 1925 to 1939. , has issued an appeal to Liberal members of Parliament urging them to reconsider the federal government's stated plans to restrict judicial reviews of murder cases only to the most deserving and exceptional cases. The Council recognizes the public and media pressure facing the government on this and other justice issues, but questions "the human, social and financial costs" of proposed changes to the Criminal Code. Specifically, the council is concerned about proposed amendments to Section 745 of the Criminal Code, known as the "faint hope clause In Canada, the so-called "Faint Hope Clause" (Section 745.6 of the Canadian Criminal Code) specifies that prisoners serving the maximum sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole for 25 years, may apply for early parole after 15 years has been served. ," which allows for prisoners serving a life sentence with a parole parole (pərōl`), in criminal law, release from prison of a convict before the expiration of his term on condition that his activities be restricted and that he report regularly to an officer. ineligibility INELIGIBILITY. The incapacity to be lawfully elected. 2. This incapacity arises from various, causes, and a person may be incapable of being elected to one office who may, be elected to another; the incapacity may also be perpetual or temporary. period of greater than 15 years to apply to the court for a reduction in that period. The clause was designed as an incentive for prisoner's rehabilitation rehabilitation: see physical therapy. , a control mechanism for prison administration, and a method for considering the implications of long-term parole ineligibility in special cases such as the elderly. It is also intended to provide an economic benefit to society, allowing former prisoners to return to society and earn their living, support their families and pay taxes. Section 745 recently received much adverse publicity when it was revealed that notorious mass-murderer Clifford Olson Clifford Robert Olson Jr (born January 1, 1940 in Vancouver, Canada) is a convicted serial killer who confessed to killing two children and nine youths in the early 1980s.[1] Murders , after serving 15 years of his sentence, would be eligible this year to apply for a judicial review. Not surprisingly, this possibility horrifies many Canadians, as well as the relatives and friends of Olson's 11 victims. The Church Council on Justice and Corrections recognizes this fact but suggests that making a law to fit one person's circumstances casts a "wide net" and amounts to "a blow to rehabilitation." Murder victims and their families can be better honoured by such means as memorial scholarships, violence prevention campaigns and Child Find than by the harshness of jail sentences jail sentence jail n → peine f de prison , the council maintains. |
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