Corrections Service will follow the Supreme Court ruling on remission of sentences of inmates - AG

Attorney General, Siromi Turaga confirms that the Fiji Corrections Service will follow the Supreme Court ruling in relation to the calculation of the remission of the sentences of inmates as the Corrections Service was earlier using the wrong formula for parole.

Turaga says the previous formula was being used from the time Francis Kean was the Corrections Commissioner.

Meanwhile the Fiji Human Rights and Anti-Discrimination Commission says the Supreme Court has clarified the position relating to remission and early release of inmates in the cases of Kreimanis v State and Mohammed Ismail v The State, that all inmates have a right to receive a one-third remission of the sentence not taking into account the non-parole period.

Chair of the Commission, Pravesh Sharma says the practice of the Fiji Corrections Service for some years has been to apply the entitlement to remission only to the sentence remaining to be served after the non-parole period has been completed.

Sharma says this method of calculation was incorrect.

He states that if an inmate has been given a non-parole period, then the computation of the one third remission still applies but if the non-parole period exceeds two thirds of a prison sentence, then the inmate must serve until the end of the non-parole period but must be released immediately at the end of the non-parole period.

Sharma says for example, if a person has been sentenced to 12 years imprisonment, then under section 27 of the 2006 Act, that inmate would be entitled to a remission of 4 years, being one third of the full term of 12 years.

He says in ordinary circumstances the inmate would be released for good behaviour after serving 8 years.

However, if the inmate was given a sentence of 12 years with a non-parole period of 9 years, then that inmate must serve the compulsory 9 years and then must be released at the end of the non-parole period of 9 years.

Sharma says the mechanism for ‘early release’ has been highlighted in two landmark judgements by Fiji’s highest court, the Supreme Court in 2023.

He says the Supreme Court’s clarification sets a correct formula in place to calculate the “early release based on inmate’s right to receive a one-third remission” of their sentence.

While, section 49 of the Correction Services Act 2006 provides for the establishment of a Parole Board, one has never been set up.

Under section 27(2) of the 2006 Act, an inmate must be given a release date for the purposes of initial clarification.

The release date must be calculated on the basis of a remission of one-third of any sentence of imprisonment exceeding one month.

Under section 28(1), the entitlement in the period of remission is dependent on the good behaviour of the inmate and may be forfeited (but later restored).

The Parole Board will be appointed soon.