Summary: | Includes abstract. === Includes bibliographical references (p. 317-324). === The principal focus of this research centres around the question whether parole, as it is understood and practised in South Africa, is a right or a privilege. The essential question of this thesis is whether a prisoner acquires an enforceable right to be released on parole after serving the non-parole period or the statutorily-determined minimum period of imprisonment. The focus is on the status of the prisoner and the process relating to his/her continued incarceration in the period starting from when his or her non-parole period has ended to the actual date of his/her release from prison according to the sentence imposed on him by the sentencing judge/magistrate. In addressing this question in a South African context, reference is made, by way of comparison, to the practice of parole nationally, and internationally, including America, Canada, Australia, India, England and the European continent insofar as it falls under the jurisdiction of the European Court of Human Rights.
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