A prison law partner at leading law firm Stephensons Solicitors LLP has cautiously welcomed proposals to reform Indeterminate Sentences for Public Protection (IPPs).
Justice Secretary Ken Clarke has set out plans to extend mandatory life sentences to more crimes other than murder. In addition, anyone convicted of a second serious sexual or violent crime in England and Wales would get an automatic life term.
In doing so, he is proposing to scrap indeterminate sentences, which prevent offenders being freed until the parole board has ruled they no longer pose a danger to the public.
Mike Pemberton, a partner and manager of the Civil Liberties Unit at Stephensons has cautiously welcomed the proposals. He said: “As a solicitor who has challenged the legality of Indeterminate Sentences, I welcome the proposal to reduce the number of offenders who may become subject to them. The underlying problem with the IPP has been a lack of resources leading to high numbers of prisoners stagnating in the system.
“While the concept of public protection is an important one; the costs to the tax payer of this sentence have been immense. It is estimated that an IPP prisoner costs on average £40,000 per year to imprison. There are currently about 6,500 such prisoners in the system, 3,500 of whom are over tariff.
“The new proposals seem to mirror the previous system of Automatic Life Sentences which came into force in September 1997. This provided that on a second conviction for a serious offence (there were nine specified) a life sentence would be imposed unless there were exceptional reasons not to.”
The IPPs replaced this type of sentence in 2005. As an illustration, the types of offences which could attract such a sentence had increased to 153. When the sentences were originally introduced, the Court had very little discretion to avoid imposing an IPP. This was amended in 2008 following acknowledgements that the system was being swamped.
Mike continued: “I am hopeful that the new proposals will balance public protection against the need to provide a workable system of imprisonment which allows individuals to get the help they need to reform.”
Mike is currently acting on behalf of a number of IPP sentence prisoners and has one case pending before the European Court of Human Rights on the subject.
ENDS
Notes to editors:- Mike Pemberton specialises in prison law, human rights and judicial review and has a special interest in all aspects of life and indeterminate sentences.
- Chambers UK recognises Mike Pemberton as a leader in his field of law.
- The firm has 30 partners and more than 350 staff across offices in Greater Manchester and Merseyside. For more information visit www.stephensons.co.uk
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