WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 1990
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SATISFACTORY RESULTS SO FAR UNDER PRISONER RELEASE SCHEMES
SATISFACTORY RESULTS HAVE BEEN ACHIEVED 30 FAR UNDER THE PRISONER "RELEASE UNDER SUPERVISION SCHEME" AND THE "PRE-RELEASE EMPLOYMENT SCHEME", THE SECRETARY FOR SECURITY, THE HON GEOFFREY BARNES, SAID IN THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL TODAY (WEDNESDAY).
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"ALTHOUGH THE TWO SCHEMES ARE IN THEIR EARLY STAGES, IT CAN CONCLUDED THAT THEIR REHABILITATION OBJECTIVES UNDER THE PRISONERS (RELEASE UNDER SUPERVISION) ORDINANCE ARE BEING ACHIEVED, ' MR BARNES SAID IN REPLYING TO A QUESTION FROM DR THE HON DANIEL TSE.
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FROM THE START OF THE RELEASE UNDER SUPERVISION SCHEME IN 1988 UP ΤΟ THE END OF LAST MONTH, THERE HAD BEEN 43 SUCCESSFUL APPLICATIONS, HE SAID.
OF THESE, 10 WERE UNDER THE RELEASE UNDER SUPERVISION SCHEME, UNDER SECTION 7(1) OF THE ORDINANCE, AND 33 WERE UNDER THE PRE-RELEASE EMPLOYMENT SCHEME, UNDER SECTION 7(2).
MR BARNES SAID TWO IMPORTANT MEASURES OF THE SUCCESS OF A PENAL SYSTEM WERE THE EXTENTS ΤΟ WHICH IT REDUCED RECIDIVISM AND ENABLED A FORMER PRISONER TO REINTEGRATE HIMSELF IN THE COMMUNITY.
THE TWO SCHEMES UNDER THE PRISONERS (RELEASE UNDER SUPERVISION) ORDINANCE PROVIDED AN OPPORTUNITY FOR PRISONERS TO BE RELEASED INTO THE COMMUNITY WHEN THEY WERE MOST LIKELY TO BE ABLE TO RE-ESTABLISH THEMSELVES WITHOUT REVERTING TO CRIME.
"THE SCHEMES PROVIDE ONE OF THE BEST MEANS OF HELPING THE PRISONERS TO ADJUST FROM A HIGHLY DISCIPLINED PRISON ENVIRONMENT ΤΟ THE FREEDOM OF LIVING NORMALLY IN THE COMMUNITY.
"THE AIM IS THAT THEY SHOULD BE IN A BETTER POSITION TO LEAD A LAW-ABIDING LIFE," HE SAID.
OF THE 10 SUCCESSFUL APPLICANTS UNDER THE RELEASE UNDER SUPERVISION SCHEME, ONE HAD COMPLETED ONE YEAR OF SUPERVISION AND EIGHT HAD BEEN UNDER SUPERVISION FOR PERIODS OF EIGHT TO 10 MONTHS.
THE REMAINING ONE HAD JUST BEEN RELEASED AND ALL 10 WERE LIVING WITH THEIR FAMILIES.
"NINE HAVE TAKEN UP EMPLOYMENT AND THE ONE WHO HAS JUST BEEN RELEASED IS NOW ON A SIX-MONTH TRAINING COURSE.
"NO SIGNS OF TRANSGRESSION OR RETROGRESSION HAVE YET BEEN DETECTED AND THEIR OVERALI. RESPONSE TOWARDS GUIDANCE, SUPERVISION AND COUNSELLING HAS BEEN CONSTRUCTIVE AND POSITIVE," HE SAID.
MR BARNES SAID OF THE 33 SUCCESSFUL, APPLICANTS UNDER THE PRE-RELEASE EMPLOYMENT SCHEME, 32 HAD BEEN RELEASED AND ONE WOULD RELEASED SHORTLY.
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