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Department of Justice allows same day parole for husband and wife

Justice & Courts
Legislation:
Ombudsmen Act 1975
Legislation display text:
Ombudsmen Act 1975
Agency:
Government Department
Ombudsman:
Nadja Tollemache
Case number(s):
W27780
Issue date:
Format:
HTML,
PDF,
Word
Language:
English

A husband and wife serving prison sentences at the same time—same day parole allowed

The husband complained about the decision by the prison authorities to decline his wife’s request for a day’s parole to coincide with his.

The inmate stated in his submission that prison authorities where he was serving his sentence had no objection to himself and his wife spending a day’s parole together. However, the Ombudsman’s subsequent informal enquiries to the Women’s Prison revealed that they had a policy forbidding paroling together a husband and wife who are serving prison terms at the same time.

The Ombudsman took up the complaint officially with the Secretary for Justice and it appeared that the General Manager was under the mistaken assumption that co-offenders were not allowed parole together. This assumption was based on previous experience in Head Office some years ago.

The issue was satisfactorily resolved and the inmate and his wife had a day’s parole together.

This case note is published under the authority of the Ombudsmen Rules 1989. It sets out an Ombudsman’s view on the facts of a particular case. It should not be taken as establishing any legal precedent that would bind an Ombudsman in future.

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