Two prison inmates out on parole as from next week

A year and a half after the parole was formally introduced to Malta's judicial system with the Restorative Justice Act, two applications have been approved, the Home Affairs Ministry said.

In a statement, the ministry said the parole granted to two inmates at the Corradino Correctional Facility will effectively start next week.

Despite being enacted in January 2012, the parole was left without the necessary structures to begin to function as planned.

"This government immediately started working on the effective implementation of the law for the benefit of society and for the rehabilitation of prisoners," the ministry said.

Persons who would commit a crime while on parole or breach the parole conditions will have to carry out the remaining part of their sentence without remission.

According to the law, inmates must be informed of their eligibility for parole four months before they become eligible.

MaltaToday is informed that there are 25 pending applications before the Parole Board whichw as set up in mid-March. The board would base its decision on three reports, one compiled by the Offender Assessment Board, a second by the Parole Unit who would have also met the prisoner and a third one compiled by the Victim Support Unit. A parole officer is then appointed to monitor the inmate granted the parole which would also include a number of conditions.