Section 2  Actual Situation with Treatment of Elderly Probationers/Parolees

1 Attributes, etc. of elderly probationers/parolees

  As shown in Chapter 2, Section 5 of this Part, the numbers of newly received elderly probationers and parolees are both on increasing trends in recent years.
  In quite a few cases significant differences in the actual situation with their personal histories, etc. affect the difficulty of discussing the treatment of elderly probationers/parolees. The number of newly received probationers/parolees in 2007 by number of admissions to penal institutions reveals that the percent ratio of those admitted for the first time (327 persons, 50.6%) and that of those admitted two times or more (319 persons, 49.4%) were at about the same level. Among elderly who were granted suspension of execution of sentence with probationary supervision (211 persons, including one with an unknown number of admissions), nearly 80% had no record of previous admission to penal institutions (165 persons, 78.2%) while remaining (a little more than) 20% did have records of previous admissions (46 persons, 21.8%) (Source: The Judicial System Department, Minister's Secretariat, Ministry of Justice).
  Among newly received probationers/parolees in 2007, the type of offense committed by elderly parolees shows that property offenses of theft (262 persons, 40.6%) and fraud (56 persons, 8.7%) accounted nearly half at about 49%, while Stimulants Control Act violations were noticeable at 11.1% (72 persons). Although the number is not large in itself, homicide at 5.6% (36 persons) does draw attention. Among elderly who were granted suspension of execution of sentence with probationary supervision, property offenses of theft (102 persons, 48.1%) and fraud (14 persons, 6.6%) accounted for about 55% , slightly higher than that of elderly parolees (Source: The Judicial System Department, Minister's Secretariat, Ministry of Justice). As shown above, property offences were common with both elderly probationers and parolees. Since property offenders tend to repeat offenses in general, guidance on improving their life styles will be needed. For those who have served long sentence terms for serious offenses such as homicide, etc. and then released on parole at an elderly age, it is likely that they will have difficulties finding employment due to their age and may have a hard time adapting to the constantly changing society after having been isolated in penal institutions for a long time, thus making special training for adapting to society necessary.