Earned Remission

EARNED REMISSION

25. (1) Remission - Subject to this section and section 26.1, every inmate shall be credited with fifteen days of remission of the sentence of the inmate in respect of each month and with a number of days calculated on a pro rata basis in respect of each incomplete month during which the inmate has been industrious, as determined in accordance with any Commissioner's directives made in that behalf, with regard to the program of the penitentiary in which the inmate is imprisoned.
(2) Computing remission credits - The first credit of earned remission pursuant to subsection (1) shall be made not later than the end of the month next following the month the inmate is received into a penitentiary, and thereafter a credit of earned remission shall be made at intervals of not more than three months.
(3) Idem - Where an inmate was received into a penitentiary before July 1, 1978, the date of the first credit of earned remission referred to in subsection (2) is August 31, 1978 and the subsequent intervals run from that date.
(4) Reference to expiration of sentence according to law - For the purposes of this section and section 26.1, a reference to the expiration of a sentence of an inmate according to law shall be read as a reference to the day on which the sentence expires, without taking into consideration any remission standing to the credit of the inmate.
(5) Effect of remission - An inmate is not entitled to be released from imprisonment, solely as a result of remission,
(a)	prior to the expiration according to law of the sentence the inmate is serving at the time an order is made in respect of the inmate pursuant to paragraph 21.4(a) of the Parole Act, as determined in accordance with section 20 of that Act at the time the order is made; or
(b)	where the case of the inmate is referred to the Chairman of the National Parole Board pursuant to subsection 21.3(3) of the Parole Act during the six months immediately preceding the presumptive release date of the inmate, prior to the rendering of the decision of the Board in connection therewith.
(6) Effect of direction not to be released as a result of remission - Where an order is made in respect of an inmate pursuant to paragraph 21.4(4)(a) of the Parole Act the inmate shall forfeit all statutory and earned remission standing to the credit of the inmate, whether accrued before or after the coming into force of this section.
(7) Idem - Any remission of sentence forfeited pursuant to subsection (6) shall not thereafter be re-credited pursuant to subsection 25(3) of the Parole Act [RSC 1970 sP-6 s24; 1976-77 c53 s41; RSC 1985 c34 (2nd Supp) s10]

*Judicial Consideration* -

R v McCrae - Unreported, July 2, 1991, No. M2829/91 (Ont Ct, Gen Div)
	- Earned remission can only be credited to an inmate in custody or on day parole. However, it must also be credited to an inmate granted a notional full parole where the prisoner actually remains in closed custody during a three-month stay in a psychiatric hospital where the prisoner was never in any real or legal sense on parole and where the granting of the notional full parole was simply to facilitate medical treatment and to ensure that the Ontario Health Insurance Program paid for the costs as opposed to the Correctional Service of Canada.

See also McClany v 771e Queen (Correctional Service of Canada) -Unreported, April 27. 1992, No. CR 91-01-11462, Winnipeg (Man QB) under Parole Act s20.

26. Forfeiture of earned remission - Every inmate who, having been credited with earned remission, is convicted in disciplinary court of any disciplinary offence is liable to forfeit, in whole or in part, the earned remission that stands to the credit of the inmate and that accrued after July 1, 1978 but no such forfeiture of more than thirty days shall be valid without the concurrence of the Commissioner or a member of the Service designated by the Commissioner, or of more than ninety days without the concurrence of the Minister. [1976-77 c53 541; RSC 1985 c35 (2nd Supp) s24]

*Judicial Consideration* -

Riches v The Warden of Leclerc Institution - Unreported, June 29, 1984, No. 36-000194-848 (Que SC)
	- In the circumstances of this case it was established that the process and procedure followed by the authorities in relation to earned remission was as follows:

	(1) If an inmate is accused of some infraction of the rules which could result in his not receiving a credit of fifteen days for that month he is given a written notice of his complaint, a copy of which is sent to the remissions committee;

	(2) The inmate has the right at all times to file a grievance concerning any problem including a grievance in relation to such a notice;

	(3) At the end of each month, the remissions committee of the institution evaluates the various complaints that have been received concerning each inmate and assesses accordingly the number of days (up to a maximum of fifteen) to be credited each month. This decision is made in the absence of the inmate who is not invited to attend;

	(4) If the decision is to credit less than the fifteen days provided for in s24 the inmate receives a notice indicating this fact and the reasons therefore;

	(5) Upon receiving such notice the inmate has the right to seek a revision of this decision and to be heard and to give his version of the incident if it is his contention that the accusation leading to the decision is unfounded. This petition for revision must be made within a period of ten days from the notice and is heard before the same committee that previously refused to grant the credit.

	The system does not provide for a hearing in every case but only for those who object to the reduction of earned remission. In the result everyone who wishes certainly has the right to be heard to give his version of the facts.
	On the facts of this case the petitioner did not file a grievance notwithstanding receipt of both notifications and neither did he apply for a revision of the decisions as he had a right to. The procedure outlined above was fully complied with by the authorities. While the rules adopted might not meet the standards to be applied to persons living under normal conditions it would appear that they are quite fair and acceptable under the circumstances.

Logan v Director of William Head Institution and National Parole Board - Unreported, May 30, 1986, No. 86/1307, Victoria (BCSC)
	- The word "remission" in s24(1) carries with it, in addition to a concept of forgiveness, the concept of merely abstaining from enforcing an existing right without bearing the connotation of cancelling that right. In its statutory context, the word does not mean "cancelled" or "expunged" and does not result in a reduction of the actual sentence. The granting of remission does not alter the sentence imposed by the court. Consequently, the imposition of conditions on mandatory supervision is lawful and within the jurisdiction of the Parole Board. This interpretation is supported by the provisions of s13(1) of the Parole Act which deems a term of imprisonment to continue in force while a person is on parole so long as the parole remains unrevoked and unforfeited, as well as the provisions of s10(1)(b) of the Parole Act which authorizes the Board to impose any term or condition it considers desirable in respect of an inmate subject to mandatory supervision. Section 15(2) of the Parole Act makes s13(1) of that Act expressly applicable to mandatory supervision.

Beaulieu v Rousseau - Unreported, December 14, 1987, Nos. T-2080-86 & T-2081-86 (FCTD)
	- Punishment in disciplinary court followed by loss of earned remission, private family visits, or escorted temporary absence passes does not raise the sort of double jeopardy situation that infringes s11(h) of the Charter.

Ex parte Prescott; Ex parte Dubois - (1973), 11 CCC (2d) 440 (Ont HC)
	- By virtue of s20 or 21 of the Parole Act, effective August 26, 1969, upon revocation of forfeiture of parole, all remission both earned and statutory standing to the credit of an inmate, is forfeited, not withstanding that under subs (2) of this section, the earned remission so forfeited is re-credited or restored. [Decided under s24 as it read prior to 1970.]

Auger v Canadian Penitentiary Service et al - [1975] FC 330 (TD)
	- A prisoner whose mandatory supervision is forfeited pursuant to the combined operation of s 15(2), 17(1) and 21(1) of the Parole Act, loses the statutory remission standing to his credit on his original sentence but will be re-credited with any earned remission to his credit from his original sentence, in accordance with this section. [Decided under s24 as it read prior to 1970.]

See also Re Macintyre and The Queen (1983), 70 CCC (2d) 542 (FCA). -annotated under s17 (formerly s14) of the Parole Act.

26.1 (1) No remission on revocation of mandatory supervision - Where, following an order of the Board made pursuant to paragraph 21.4(4)(a) or (b) of the Parole Act or an order declaring that, at the time the case was referred to the Board, the inmate was serving a term of imprisonment that included a sentence imposed in respect of an offence mentioned in the schedule to the Parole Act that had been prosecuted by indictment and declaring that, in the opinion of the Board, the commission of the offence caused the death of or serious harm to another person, the inmate was released subject to mandatory supervision and the mandatory supervision is revoked, the inmate
(a)	shall, except in respect of a consecutive sentence or portion thereof imposed after the inmate's release subject to mandatory supervision and served prior to the revocation of the mandatory supervision, forfeit all statutory and earned remission standing to the credit of the inmate, whether accrued before or after the coming into force of this section; and
(b)	is not entitled to be released from imprisonment, solely as a result of remission, prior to the expiration according to law of the sentence, as determined in accordance with section 20 of the Parole Act, that the inmate was serving on the date of release.
(2) Idem - Any remission of sentence forfeited pursuant to subsection (1) shall not thereafter be remitted or re-credited pursuant to paragraph 25(2)(c) or (d) or subsection 25(3) of the Parole Act. [RSC 1985 c34 (2nd Supp) s11]
TOP