Conditional Release and Performance – Appeals

Official Title: Performance Monitoring Report 2019-2020, Conditional Release and Performance – Appeals
From: Parole Board of Canada

Appeals

Tables 147-154

Within the Board, the Appeal Division is responsible for re-examining, upon application by an offender or their representative, certain decisions made by the Board.

The Appeal Division's role is to ensure that the law and the Board’s policies are respected, that the rules of fundamental justice are adhered to, and that Board decisions are reasonable and based upon reliable and persuasive information. It reviews the decision-making process to confirm that it was fair and that procedural safeguards were respected.

Appeal Applications

• In 2019-20, the Appeal Division received a total of 484 applications to appeal federal and provincial conditional release decisions and accepted 425 applications for processing for an acceptance rate of 88%.
• The number of federal appeal applications received in 2019-20 increased in the Quebec region (+9; to 124) and decreased in the Atlantic (-1; to 38), Ontario (-21; to 120), Prairie (-14; to 102) and Pacific (-4; to 73) regions when compared to the previous year.
• The number of provincial appeal applications received in 2019-20 increased in the Prairie (+2; to 7) and Pacific (+8; to 20) regions when compared to the previous year. No provincial appeal applications received were recorded in the Atlantic region for a second consecutive year.
• Of the 399 federal appeal applications accepted for processing in 2019-20, 11 were cancelled and one was withdrawn, leaving 386 federal applications to be processed. Of the 26 provincial appeal applications accepted for processing, none were cancelled nor withdrawn.

Appeal Decisions

• In 2019-20, the Appeal Division rendered 598 decisions on 459 cases.
• The Appeal Division modified the decision in 97 appeal cases which resulted in a new hearing/review ordered in 84 cases, an altered decision in one case and modified special conditions in 12 cases.

Appeal Decision Trends

• In 2019-20, the number of federal appeal decisions rendered by the Board increased to 557 (+9%), as did the number of provincial appeal decisions (to 41; 18 more decisions) when compared to the previous year.
• In 2019-20, the Board rendered more federal day parole (+11%), full parole (+16%) and statutory release (+6%) appeal decisions compared to the previous year. ETA appeal decisions decreased from 15 to 13, UTA appeal decisions decreased from 23 to 19, and detention appeal decisions decreased from 16 to 15.
• The proportion of federal day parole (41%; +1%) and full parole (31%; +2%) appeal decisions rendered in 2019-20 increases when compared to 2018-19. Decreases in the proportions were reported for ETA (2%; -1%) and UTA (3%; -2%) while the proportion of statutory release (20%) and detention (3%) appeal decisions remained the same.
• Compared to the previous year, the proportion of federal appeal decisions remained relatively the same for all offender groups. Offenders serving sentences for sexual offences accounted for 19% of all federal appeal decisions in 2019-20, compared to 52% for offenders serving sentences for violent offences and 29% for offenders serving sentences for non-violent offences.
• Of the 557 federal appeal decisions rendered in 2019-20, 78% of the initial decisions were affirmed, in 19% of cases a new review/hearing was ordered, in 3% of cases a change of condition was ordered and in one case a decision was altered.
• Of the 41 provincial appeal decisions rendered in 2019-20, 36 initial decisions were affirmed (88%) and a new review/hearing was ordered in 5 cases (12%).
• In 2019-20, 87% of all federal decisions rendered by the Board were appealable, the rate was 88% in 2018-19. The number of appealable decisions in 2019-20 decreased 3% (to 18,597).
• In 2019-20, the federal appeal rate remained relatively stable (3.0%; +0.3%) compared to the previous. Escorted temporary absence and detention decisions were the most likely to be appealed, while statutory release decisions were the least likely to be appealed.
• The provincial appeal rate increased in 2019-20 (to 6.5%; +3.6%) compared to 2018-19. Among provincial appeals, day parole and full parole release decisions have approximately the same likelihood of being appealed (6.8% and 6.2% respectively).

Note: More than one decision can be appealed per application.

* This is a case of an offender who was serving a federal sentence, which was reduced by a court order.

* This is a case of an offender who was serving a federal sentence, which was reduced by a court order.