Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Justice and Attorney General, Davis Steven has commended the efforts of the Parole Board in bringing their hearings to prisons in the provinces.
He made these remarks when addressing the Parole board at the Bomana Correctional Service institute during a parole hearing on Thursday.
Steven says the board is doing a good job in ensuring that justice is not just done but seen to be done.
He said, it is not a right but a privilege given to prisoners after serving a third of their prison term, and so justice must be done according to law.
The Parole board was established in 1991. Parole is a system where a detainee is released early from a correctional institution before he or she has served their prison sentence. The decision for parole is conducted by the parole board.
In 2019, the board service supervised 359 parolees throughout the country. There were nine Parole hearings with 162 prisoners deemed eligible.
The first Parole held this year was in Bihute Prision in Goroka. So far, 27 Parole applications have been considered, two from Bomana, nine from Buindaira and 14 from Bihute.
The Deputy Prime Minister also congratulated, Steven Pokanis, on behalf of the government following his contract signing for his post as the Correctional Service Commissioner.