The Criminal Justice Act introduced major changes in England's parole system. Those sentenced to 4 years or longer after October 1, 1992, are subject to a discretionary release system for which they are eligible once they serve half their sentence instead of one-third, as had been the case under the old parole system. This system is officially called Discretionary Condition Release (DCR) but is still referred to as parole. Decisions made by the Parole Board based on DCR criteria were compared with decisions made before DCR criteria came into effect. Results showed that of those who became eligible for discretionary release and supervision under provisions of the Criminal Justice Act, a higher proportion were recommended for parole. Because a lower proportion of high-risk prisoners were recommended for parole at their last review, it was determined that the daily average long-term prison population is likely to increase. 2 references and 2 tables