PRE-FINALS

LESSON
5
THE PAROLE
SYSTEM
WHAT IS PAROLE?
 The word, Parole, derives from the French “parol” meaning “word of honor”
and references prisoners of war promising not to take up arms in current
conflict if released.

Is a conditional pardon.

It is the conditional release of a prisoner from correctional institution after

serving the minimum period of his indeterminate sentence.

It does not have the effect of extinguishing the criminal liability of the
offender.
 HISTORICAL
ACCOUNTS
• The First Parole Law was passed in Massachusetts in 1837.

Alexander Maconochie
At about same time, Alexander Maconochie

introduced a system whereby a prisoner was given a “

ticket of leave “ (the equivalent of parole) after earning

a certain required number of marks – known as the

MARK SYSTEM.

• A Mark System is a penal system that allows prisoners to

earn privileges and early release by accumulating "marks"
through good behavior, achievement, and thrift.
 • Parole was also a feature of the Irish Prison system which was established in 1856 based on an

indeterminate sentence & the mark system (Walter Crofton).

Walter Crofton
• Irish system, penal method originated in the early 1850s by Sir
Walter Crofton.

• Modeled after Alexander Maconochie’s mark system, it emphasized

training and performance as the instruments of reform.

The Irish system consisted of three phases:

1. a period of solitary confinement;
2. a period of congregate work, in which the prisoner advanced

to higher levels by credits, or “marks,” earned for industry

and good behavior; and,

3. finally, a period in “intermediate prisons” with minimal supervision, during which the prisoner demonstrated his
dependability and employability in the outside world
4. ticket of leave – precursor of modern parole.
• The Elmira Reformatory, likewise, had a limited form of indeterminate sentence and a method of marks

similar to the Irish system, and parole based on marks (Zebulon Brockway)

Zebulon Brockway
• is known as the Father of Prison Reform the and

Father of American Parole.

• His idea was to rehabilitate offenders and reward them for

good behavior and hard work with early release.

• The bulk of Brockway's career was spent as the

superintendent of the Elmira Reformatory.

• The Elmira system classified and separated various types of prisoners, gave them individualized
treatment emphasizing vocational training and industrial employment, used indeterminate sentences,
rewarded good behavior, and paroled inmates under supervision.
 PAROLE
SYSTEM
The Board of Parole should be vested by law wide latitude of powers, which include the
following:

1. To set terms of parole.

2. To decide who shall be released on parole from among all inmates eligible.
3. To determine the date of release.
4. To decide revocation of actions.
5. To administer the agency responsible for parole supervision sometimes
 Institutional Parole
Officers
• In the preparation of cases for parole deliberation/the
Board of Parole is aided by a sufficient number of
institutional classification and parole officers.

• These personnel work closely as liaison officers between

the board of parole and the prison, and are in close contact
with the parole officers in the field who supervise the
parolees after release.

• The institutional classification or parole officer keeps up-to-

date the running case summary of the prisoner and makes
said records available to the parole boards from which it can
base final parole action.

• He is responsible for the preparation the admission summary of the prisoner, which includes the record of the present and previous
criminal offenses, a social history; religious history psychological and psychiatric study, employment and educational accomplishment;
and complete analysis of the community arid situation:

• The institutional parole officer submits "progress reports" on the prisoners' program and training as the inmates serve their sentences.
 Administrative Structure
There are four plans or structures by which parole is administered, namely:

1. The parole board serves as the administrative and policy-

making board for a combined probation and parole system.
Most of the states of the United States fall under this plan.

2. The second plan that parole board administers the parole

service only.

3. The third plan is that the parole services are administered by

the department which administers the prison and other
correctional institutions and which department may or may not
also include the parole board.

4. The fourth plan is that the parole services are administered by

the state correctional agency, which also administers probation
and penal institutions.
 PAROLE SYSTEM
IN THE PHILIPPINES
• Act No. 4103, as amended, otherwise known as the "Indeterminate Sentence Law” which
was approved on December 5, 1933.

• This law created the Board of Pardons and Parole.

• A prison sentence that consists of a range of years ( such as "five to ten years” ).

• The principle behind indeterminate sentences is the hope that prison will rehabilitate some
prisoners; those who show the most progress will be paroled closer to the minimum term
than those who do not.
The parole system in the Philippines falls
under the third plan.

• Generally a parole office headed by an executive officer called Parole

Administrator or Chief Parole Officer administers parole.

• The Chief of the Parole Office executes the policies formulated by the Board
of Parole, and carries out the functions of parole.

• A parole agency has two important units or subdivisions aside from the
administrative and other auxiliary service units. The principal subdivisions are the
investigation and Supervision Divisions.
 WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE
BETWEEN DETERMINATE SENTENCE
WITH AN INDETERMINATE
SENTENCE?
• Under Determinate Sentence, the criminal must serve the entire sentence. The

date of release remains objective.

• Under Indeterminate Sentences, a criminal will serve a range of years as

determined by the judge.

The minimum time period is usually set and after the minimum sentence passes,
the case will go before a parole board which sets the actual date of release.
 WHO CANNOT BE
GRANTED PAROLE?
• Generally, those sentenced to a term of imprisonment of one (1)
year or less, or to a straight penalty, or to a prison sentence without a
minimum term of imprisonment.

WHO MAY GRANT PAROLE

TO PRISONER?
• The Board of Pardons and Parole, an agency under the Department
of Justice.
BOARD OF PARDONS AND
PAROLE
• The Board of Pardon and Parole is the administrative arm of the President of the
Philippines in the exercise of his constitutional power to grant pardon.

• The BPP is composed of seven (7) members all appointed by the president with the
Secretary of Justice as acting chairman.

• The law requires that the six Board members should include a sociologist, a
clergyman, an educator, a lawyer, a penologist, and at least one (1) is a woman.
WHAT COMPOSED THE BOARDS OF
PARDON AND PAROLE?

• Chairman - Secretary of the DOJ

• Ex-Officio - Probation Administrator of the Parole and Probation Administration

• Members: Sociologist, Clergyman, Educator, Psychiatrist, Person qualified for

the work by training/experience and a member of the Philippine Bar.
 DIFFERENCE BETWEEN BOARD OF
PARDON AND PAROLE (BPP) AND
PAROLE AND PROBATION
ADMINSTRATION
BOARD OF PARDON AND PAROLE (PPA)
PAROLE AND PROBATION ADMINSTRATION
Act No. 4103 (Indeterminate Sentence Law)
Reviews applications for Parole or Conditional
Pardon and recommends to the President of the
Philippines the prisoners who are qualified for
Executive Clemency
A DOJ office directly under the Office of the
Secretary of Justice
Presidential Decree No. 968, as amended by EO
No. 292 (Administrative Code of 1987)
Investigate applicants referred by the courts for
probation and to assist the BPP through the
conduct of pre-parole/pre-executive clemency
investigation to help the board in determining the
prisoners to be granted parole and to recommend
to the president the appropriate form of executive
clemency.
Those granted release through parole or
conditional pardon will be under the supervision
and rehabilitation of a PPA officer.
An attached agency of the DOJ
 WHO MAY BE
QUALIFIED FOR
PAROLE?
A prisoner shall be eligible for the grant of parole upon showing that –
1. He is confined in a jail or prison to serve an indeterminate prison sentence, the maximum
period of which exceeds one year, pursuant to a final judgment of conviction.

2. He has served the minimum period of said sentence less the Good Conduct Time
Allowances (GCTA) earned.

3. There is a reasonable probability that if released, he will be law-abiding.

4. His release will not be incompatible with the interests and welfare of society.
 WHAT ARE THE
DISQUALIFICATIONS
FOR THE GRANT OF
1.
PAROLE?
Those convicted of an offense punished with Death Penalty, Reclusion Perpetua or Life
imprisonment;

2. Those convicted of treason, conspiracy or proposal to commit treason or espionage;

3. Those convicted of misprision of treason, rebellion, sedition or coup d'état;

4. Those convicted of piracy or mutiny on the high seas or Philippine waters;

5. Those who are habitual delinquents;

 WHAT ARE THE DISQUALIFICATIONS
FOR THE GRANT OF PAROLE?

6. Those who escaped from confinement or evaded sentence;

7. Those who were granted Conditional Pardon and violated any of the terms thereof;

8. Those whose maximum term of imprisonment does not exceed one (1) year or those with definite
sentence;

9. Those suffering from any mental disorder as certified by a government psychiatrist/psychologist;

10. Those whose conviction is on appeal;

11. Those who have pending criminal case/s for an offense committed while serving sentence.