release of prisoners for good behaviour after the House of Assembly passed an act providing for its creation in the first sitting of the year.

Home Affairs Minister Paula Cox called the legislation a "milestone'' and "the right approach'' to dealing with prisoners.

Ms Cox explained that currently the Treatment of Offenders Board managed how prisoners are disciplined and when those same prisoners are given early release.

Calling this an "inherent conflict'' Ms Cox said the TOB's power to make recommendations on a prisoner's release on licence is at odds with its "broader advocacy role within the prison system''.

The new five-member Parole Board will include a psychologist, a lawyer and a person experienced in supervision or after care of prisoners. Members will serve terms of up to three years, for which they will be paid.

The board will be answerable to the Minister of Home Affairs and Public Safety and has as its guiding principle protecting society through careful assessment of the risk of releasing a prisoner and the "capacity and capability'' of managing that risk upon release.

"In this regard,'' Ms Cox added. "The Board would need to be satisfied that the offender will not present an undue risk to the community by being released prior to the expiry of his or her sentence.'' In addition to prison reports, the board will decide on early release based on prisoner interviews and interviews with the victims of the crime, should the Board feel the case warrants it.

This particular provision won raves from both sides of the House once the wording was clarified to indicate victims' positions were to be considered.

"Praise the Lord if it applies to the victim,'' said UBP MP John Barritt.

"If this is the case it's a breakthrough piece of legislation. I would be trumpeting it from the rooftop.'' Ms Cox said the section in question was indeed intended to allow for victim interviews to be considered.

Among the questions and criticisms from the Opposition UBP during the debate on the act were: the issue of continuity on the board; whether its purpose was solely to free up beds for new prisoners; that the establishment of the board might be "premature'' before a report on the prison system is complete; whether the parole board might undermine the courts; and, whether the Government's focus would be better placed on preventing crime before it occurs.

Mr. Barritt said that given the high rate of repeat offence in Bermuda and that the "prisons were bursting at the seams... One gets concerned, are we just setting up this up because of pressure to make more beds available for people coming into the prisons?'' He pointed out that of 37 prisoners released last year, seven were recalled and questioned the need for a new board.

And, reading from the Treatment of Offenders Board annual report of 1999, Mr.

Barritt highlighted that body's concerns about conditions and illicit and illegal activities inside Bermuda's three prisons.

He also argued that the parole board's three-year terms should be staggered in order to add consistency and continuity to the board by maintaining a degree of experience.

Minister Paula Cox addressed this point later in the session, assuring Mr.

Barritt that given that, as terms were "not to exceed three years'', they could easily and would be staggered.

PLP MP and current chairman of the TOB, Neletha Butterfield, defended the need to split responsibility for parole from that board. "That we had 68 reports for release on licence, tells us there is a need for a parole board,'' she said.

And she added if current prison ills were serious, it has taken years to get that way and was directly related to the general social ills of the community.

"Prison is broken, the system is broken, its cracked to pieces but it didn't get like that overnight.'' UBP MP Tim Smith questioned whether the parole board meant that Bermuda was becoming softer on crime. He said that given that a drug court was also being established and smaller offences are not punished by prison time, the Parole Board would in essence be "dealing with and releasing members of the prison population that may be more serious violent offenders because there are other paths for the non violent offenders.'' And he questioned whether more probation and parole officers would be provided to oversee prisoners released early.

Former Assistant Police Commissioner and PLP MP Wayne Perinchief spoke at length about links between illiteracy, learning disabilities and crime. He said he would like to see an early screening process put in place and that he "had some sympathy'' for the Opposition's position that focus must also be put on preventing criminal behaviour.

Ms Cox told the House that the National Parole Board of Canada has agreed to provide help in starting the board.

While the new Parole Board is not part of the Alternatives to Incarceration initiative (ATI), Ms Cox called it "complementary'' and part of the "underlying thrust of ATI which is of accountability, responsibility and community action'' in combating crime.