Parole
Definition
Conditional early release from a custodial sentence after a portion has been served. The released person remains under supervision and subject to conditions. Violation of conditions leads to recall to custody to serve the remainder of the sentence.
- Type
- Conditional early release from custody
- Requires
- Portion of sentence already served
- Oversight
- Supervision subject to conditions
- Breach consequence
- Recall to custody
Common questions
How does parole differ from probation?+
Parole follows a period of actual imprisonment and releases someone before their full sentence is served, while probation is typically imposed instead of a custodial sentence from the outset.
What happens if a parole condition is violated?+
The person can be recalled to custody to serve the remaining portion of the original sentence, with a hearing or further conditions sometimes applying before any later release.
Related terms
- After-Care Services
- Organised support, shelter, and placement assistance offered to a released prisoner to ease the return to family, work, and community life.
- Furlough
- A short periodic leave from prison granted to maintain family and social ties, treated in Indian practice as a right earned by...
- Incapacitation
- The justification for imprisonment that focuses on preventing crime during the sentence by removing the offender from society, regardless of whether their...
- Irish System
- Walter Crofton's staged progression from separate confinement through public works and an intermediate stage to release on a ticket-of-leave.
- Mark System
- Alexander Maconochie's scheme of earning marks for labour and conduct, which a prisoner could exchange for progression toward earlier release.
- Probation
- A community sentence served under supervision instead of custody. The offender remains in the community subject to conditions: regular reporting, curfews, attendance...
- Recidivism
- The tendency of a person who has been convicted of a crime to reoffend. Measured differently across jurisdictions: by reconviction, by reincarceration,...
- Restorative Justice
- A process in which the victim, the offender, and relevant community members meet with a trained facilitator to discuss the harm caused,...
- Throughput
- The flow of cases or persons through successive stages of the criminal justice system. Throughput analysis tracks how many people enter at...
- Ticket-of-Leave
- A certificate issued under the Irish system permitting a convict to live in the community before sentence expiry, subject to police reporting...
Explained in these topics
- Corrections and the Criminal Justice System as a Whole
- Parole and After-Care: Conditional Release and ReintegrationConditional release of a prisoner before sentence expiry, under supervision, on terms that can be revoked for breach.