Faint hope clause

The "Faint hope clause" is the popular name for s.745.6 of the Canadian Criminal Code, a statutory provision that allows prisoners who have been sentenced to life imprisonment with a parole eligibility period of greater than 15 years to apply for early parole once they have served 15 years. Offenders who committed their offence after December 2, 2011 are no longer eligible to apply for the faint hope clause. However, those convicted of offences that occurred prior to that date may still be eligible.

The prisoner must apply to the Chief Justice of the province where he or she was convicted, and the Chief Justice (or another designated judge) then reviews the application to determine whether there is a reasonable chance the prisoner could be successful in his or her application before a jury; if the applicant is likely to succeed, the court will empanel a jury to hear the application.

The jury may hear evidence relating to the character of the prisoner, the prisoner's conduct while in prison, the nature of the offence, the effect of the crime on the family of the victim, and other information the presiding judge deems relevant.

The jury then decides whether or not the parole eligibility period should be reduced, and the decision to reduce the parole eligibility period must be unanimous. If the parole eligibility period is reduced, this permits the prisoner to apply for early parole, and the ultimate decision of whether to grant parole to the prisoner lies with the Parole Board of Canada.

Persons convicted of multiple murders that occurred after January 9, 1997 are ineligible to apply for a reduction in their parole eligibility period. This repeal occurred when convicted serial killer/rapist Clifford Olson applied for release under the faint hope clause.

Part of the rationale for the clause, Section 745.6 of the Criminal Code, was to lower the risk to prison guards from murderers serving life with little hope of release - and nothing to lose from unleashing violence

The section was added in 1976 after Canada abolished the death penalty and replaced it with a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment for first and second degree murder. This particular provision was added in order to encourage convicted murderers in Canada to rehabilitate themselves, and to reflect the fact that other countries allowed convicted murderers to be paroled after an average of 15 years incarceration.

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