Minister of Justice Rob Nicholson listens to reporters' questions on Friday in Ottawa after announcing the government will introduce legislation to remove the 'faint-hope' clause from the Criminal Code. (Adrian Wyld/Canadian Press)

The Conservative government is introducing legislation to repeal the so-called faint hope clause that enables criminals convicted of first- and second-degree murder to apply for parole earlier than their sentence allows.

If passed into law, the legislation would mean that anyone convicted of first- or second-degree murder would no longer be able to apply at the 15-year mark of their sentence for an earlier parole date.

Justice Minister Rob Nicholson said murderers must serve serious time for the most serious crime.

"By ending 'faint hope' reviews, we are saying 'No' to early parole for murders," Nicholson told the House of Commons on Friday.

"We are also sparing families the pain of attending repeated parole eligibility hearings and having to relive these unspeakable tragedies, over and over again."

Currently, first-degree murder carries a mandatory life sentence with no eligibility for parole for 25 years. Second-degree murder carries a mandatory life sentence with no eligibility for parole for a minimum of 10 years and a maximum of 25 years.

According to the Justice Ministry, about seven to 10 offenders apply every year, and of those, about 80 per cent are granted parole.

The faint hope regime would still apply to those offenders who are currently serving or awaiting sentencing for murder, Nicholson said.

But he said the legislation would make it more difficult for those offenders to apply under the faint hope clause by setting the following conditions:

• A judge would have to be satisfied that there is a substantial likelihood that a jury would agree unanimously to reduce the applicant's parole eligibility date.
• After serving at least 15 years of their sentence, an offender would have only three months in which to apply or re-apply to be considered for the faint hope regime.
• If the offender did not apply within the three-month period, he or she would have to wait a minimum of five years before getting another chance to apply.
• Unsuccessful applicants would have to wait a minimum of five years before they could re-apply. Again, an offender would only have a three-month period to re-apply.

During the 2006 election campaign, the Conservatives pledged to repeal the clause, which was added to the Criminal Code after Parliament abolished the death penalty in 1976. It was replaced with mandatory life terms of imprisonment for first-degree and second-degree murder.

It is aimed at encouraging rehabilitation for convicted murderers and to align with other countries that allow convicted murderers to be paroled after 15 years.

The section was amended in 1997 to add a review of the case by a judge. It also imposed the requirement for a unanimous agreement, rather than eight out of 12 jurors.