![]() The prisoner should be allowed to apply to have their continued imprisonment reviewed once they had served the punishment part of their sentence.Life sentences should be regarded as having two parts – a “punishment” part (aimed at the offender) and a “security” part (aimed at protecting the public). The court in Strasbourg decided, by 18 votes to 1, that their rights were indeed being breached by not allowing possibility of review.They argued that the concept of life imprisonment without possibility of review breached their rights under Article 5(4).Thynne, Wilson and Gunnell had each been given discretionary life sentences in England for violent sexual offences.Article 5(4) of the European Convention on Human Rights states: “Everyone who is deprived of his liberty by arrest or detention shall be entitled to take proceedings by which the lawfulness of his detention shall be decided speedily by a court and his release ordered if the detention is not lawful.”.Thynne, Wilson and Gunnell v UK (1990 ECHR 29) The basis for this comes from the following 1990 case: Over the years, the law in Scotland (as well as in England & Wales) has evolved to the point at which it is accepted that those sentenced to life imprisonment have the right to have their continued imprisonment reviewed after a certain point. “Discretionary” life sentences are also available for other offences (e.g. So, when somebody is convicted of murder, the court has to impose a sentence of life imprisonment. It’s also worth having a quick read of the Hauf-Hangit Maggie story, which has to be one of the finest examples of the legal technicality in history.Įventually, the Murder (Abolition of Death Penalty) Act 1965 came along and did what it said on the tin: To illustrate this, have a look at this Herald article on hangings in Glasgow, which includes an objectively excellent picture of an old boy pointing at a trapdoor in Duke Street “Pirson”. It might persuade someone that life imprisonment is something that should be taken seriously – who knows? A Modest History of Life and Death in ScotlandĪs you probably know, capital punishment was A Thing in Scotland until the mid 20th Century. I thought that a post explaining the concept of “life imprisonment” might be useful for those who aren’t familiar with how it works in practice. However, I do think that comments like these underline the importance of a dispassionate and evidence-based legal approach to dealing with people convicted of murder. I’m not suggesting for a second that people wanting murderers to be locked up forever are being silly. ![]() Murder is obviously an awful crime, and people are quite right to be upset and angry with the person convicted. Here is a sample of the comments, which I would say is representative of the comments you tend to get on reports like these. For example, take today’s news report of the sentencing of Nico Allan for the murder of Mark Squires in Edinburgh in October 2017. Specifically, never read the comments on news articles relating to your chosen profession / area of interest.īecause I am both an idiot and a masochist, I occasionally read the comments on news reports of criminal cases.
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