Finally Ending Indefinite Sentences
A few months ago I wrote about the scourge of indefinite imprisonment, something that was described by former judge, Lord Brown, as “the greatest single stain on our criminal justice system”.
For background, imprisonment for public protection (IPP) as it is known, was introduced by the previous Labour government and means that a prisoner might be languishing behind bars for small offences with no end to their sentence in sight. Thomas White stole a mobile phone and has been in prison for more than ten years despite the minimum tariff being set at only two.
During that time the effect of a life behind bars combined with there being no definitive end to his sentence has had a deteriorating effect on his mental health. Things were so bad that a UN torture expert felt the need to comment on the psychological harm caused by indefinite sentences.
Meanwhile a good number of IPP offenders are on an indefinite licence so even though they are not in prison, they are still under constant threat of being recalled. That recall can even be for something that is not criminal (such as missing appointments) or even for something that is not their fault (like insufficient mental health support in the community). This can lead to situations where individuals are constantly bouncing in and out of prison.
Despite this criticism and the fact that the architect of IPP, David Blunkett, has admitted that he got it wrong, the Tories have failed to act until now when the Justice Secretary revealed changes to the Victims and Prisoners Bill.
At the moment the only way to have an indeterminate sentence terminated is through an application to the Parole Board after 10 years. Under the new legislation, that period will be reduced to three years and after five years the sentence will be terminated automatically whether the Parole Board agrees or not. Furthermore the statutory presumption will be that the sentence should be terminated unless it is still needed for purposes of public protection.
The other good thing is that the intention is for this reform to also be applied retrospectively. That means, according to government figures, around 1,800 people who are already out of prison will automatically have their sentence terminated while 800 more will be able to have their sentence reviewed by the Parole Board in March 2025.
As the Justice Secretary Alex Chalk noted when announcing the changes:
“We are taking decisive action to curtail IPP licence periods to give rehabilitated people the opportunity to move on with their lives, while continuing to make sure the public are protected from the most serious offenders.
“This is a major step towards wiping away the stain of IPP sentences from our justice system, without compromising public protection.”
There is no doubt that this is an important step and certainly brings us closer to finally making IPP a thing of the past. Nevertheless it does not do much for those who are still behind bars. They are due to remain in prison and will not be any closer to knowing when they might be released.
Shirley Debono, the founder of the campaign group IPP Committee in Action, pointed out that the government has ignored the recommendation by the Justice Committee that those subject to indefinite sentences should be formally resentenced so that they at least have an end date in sight.
Until that reform is enacted, this ‘stain’ on our justice system remains for all to see.
This week on the podcast, we once again return to PPI claims and an argument that the normal time limits for bringing a claim should not apply in certain circumstances. We discuss the implications for PPI claimants as well as the wider effect on the Limitation Act.
Episode link: https://uklawweekly.com/2023-uksc-41/
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Marcus