Parole

is permission for a prisoner to be released earlier than a period of sentence in prison is finished. The Probation and Mediation Service Act allows the involvement of a probation officer while the offender is in prison, in particular when the offender plans to apply for conditional release. Once a third, a half or two-thirds of a custodial sentence has been served, the court may conditionally release the offender. When conditionally releasing a prisoner, the court may set a probationary period of one to seven years and may place the offender under the supervision of the PMS. The offenders are obliged to cooperate with the PMS, and the arrangements for supervision and reporting to the court on their progress are similar to those for conditional sentencing with supervision or conditional release from punishment with supervision.