PUBLIC ORDER
308
Visiting Justices
Justices of the Peace visit penal institutions fortnightly or monthly, depending on the type of institution. They investigate complaints, inspect diets and report on living and working conditions. They may also advise the Commissioner of Correctional Services on employment opportunities for released prisoners.
After-care Services
After-care supervision is provided to persons discharged from training, detention and drug addiction treatment centres; young prisoners and those discharged under the Post-release Supervision of Prisoners, Conditional Release, Release Under Supervision and Pre-release Employment Schemes. After-care services aim at facilitating the ex-offenders' rehabilitation and re-integration into society. A sound rapport among the supervisees, their families and the after-care staff is cultivated to help the supervisees tackle the obstacles on their pathway to rehabilitation. Throughout the statutory supervision period, regular contacts are maintained between the aftercare staff and their respective supervisees to ensure that the supervisees settle well into the community and comply with the conditions of the supervision orders. Any breach of the supervision conditions may result in the supervisee's being recalled for further period of training, treatment or imprisonment.
Under the Release Under Supervision and Pre-release Employment Schemes, successful applicants may be discharged directly from prison for after-care supervision or permitted to go out to work and live in a hostel with after-care services. Both schemes aim at enabling suitable, eligible and motivated prisoners to serve their sentences in an open environment with supervision.
The Post-release Supervision of Prisoners Scheme, which came into operation in late 1996, provides after-care supervision for certain categories of adult prisoners to facilitate their rehabilitation and re-integration into society. Prisoners breaching the supervision conditions may be recalled to serve the balance of their unexpired supervision period. Under the Long-term Prison Sentences Review Ordinance, which has been operational since June 30, 1997, prisoners with indeterminate sentences may before the Long-term Prison Sentences Review Board makes recommendations as to whether their indeterminate sentences should be converted to a determinate ones be conditionally released under supervision for a specific period to test their determination and ability to lead a law-abiding life.
Success rates of the after-care programmes are measured by the percentage of supervisees completing supervision without re-conviction and/or remaining drug-free as the case may be. In 1998, the success rates were 95 per cent for detention centre inmates; 61 per cent for male training centre inmates; 93 per cent for female training centre inmates; 81 per cent for young male prisoners; 79 per cent for young female prisoners; 68 per cent for male drug addiction treatment centre inmates; 77 per cent for female drug addiction treatment centre inmates; 100 per cent for the Release Under Supervision Scheme; 100 per cent for the Pre-release Employment Scheme; 97 per cent for the Post-release Supervision of Prisoners Scheme and 100 per cent for the Conditional Release of Prisoners Scheme. At the end of 1998, 3 018 males and 341 females were under active after-care supervision.