In its latest law-and-order bills, the Harper government is proposing new legislation that it says would give more rights to victims and clamp down on inmates who break prison rules.

Public Safety Minister Peter Van Loan told CBC News that the proposed legislation would "rebalance how our prisons work and parole works to actually put the rights of victims a little bit higher on the agenda."

Among the changes, the proposed legislation would enshrine in law the right of a victim of crime to participate in parole board hearings.

"Certainly, I think it’s important when a parole board makes a decision on parole, that they be aware of how a particular offence affected a family, how they affected those victims and how the return of that individual may affect that family and their sense of security," Van Loan said.

He said another proposed change in legislation would enable a parole board to take into account the nature or severity of the offence and the degree to which the offender was responsible for the crime.

"That’s something, believe it or not, that wasn’t considered in parole board decisions previously," he said.

"They looked at the conduct of the offender in prison, not whether they were getting rehabilitated in terms of following their corrections plan, and not the nature of their offence."

The proposed legislation would also authorize police officers to arrest, without a warrant, an offender in breach of a condition of any conditional release.

The government also seeks to impose tougher penalties on inmates who break rules and regulations. For example, inmates convicted of throwing bodily substances or knowingly making fraudulent claims would face "disciplinary sanction."

Also, inmates convicted of serious disciplinary offences who are segregated from other inmates could have their visits restricted.

On Monday, Justice Minister Rob Nicholson introduced legislation that, if passed, would end conditional sentences for people convicted of arson, kidnapping and other serious crimes.