By JO-MARIE BROWN
The Court of Appeal will be asked to decide how long the Parole Board has in which to order some high-risk offenders to remain in prison.
Serious violent offenders are released after serving two-thirds of their sentences, unless the Parole Board orders otherwise.
But confusion has arisen over prisoners serving cumulative sentences - where prison terms for separate offences have been added together.
A convicted rapist was freed this week after a High Court judge said he had been kept in prison 15 months longer than he should have been.
The man received a 10-year sentence in 1993 and in 1995 a further nine months was added for a lesser charge.
The board ordered the man to stay in jail shortly before two-thirds of his sentence of 10 years and nine months had expired.
But the High Court has ruled that the board should have made the order before two-thirds of the 10-year sentence was up.
The Department of Corrections, which will take a case to the Court of Appeal, says the decision at present affects 11 prisoners.
Questions over parole denials
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