Life_sentences

Life imprisonment

Life imprisonment

Imprisonment intended to last for life

"Life sentence" redirects here. For other uses, see Life Sentence (disambiguation).
"Life term" redirects here. For lifelong terms of office, see Life tenure.
Not to be confused with Indefinite imprisonment.

Life imprisonment is any sentence of imprisonment for a crime under which convicted criminals are to remain in prison for the rest of their natural lives (or until pardoned, paroled, or commuted to a fixed term). Crimes that warrant life imprisonment are extremely serious and usually violent. Examples of these crimes are murder, torture, terrorism, child abuse resulting in death, rape, espionage, treason, illegal drug trade, human trafficking, severe fraud and financial crimes, aggravated property damage, arson, hate crime, kidnapping, burglary, robbery, piracy, aircraft hijacking, and genocide.

Common law murder is one of the only crimes for which life imprisonment is mandatory; mandatory life sentences for murder are given in several countries, including several states of the United States and Canada.[1] For especially heinous murders that pass specific requirements, capital punishment could be given. Life imprisonment (as a maximum term) can also be imposed, in certain countries, for traffic offences causing death.[2] Life imprisonment isn't used in all countries; Portugal was the first country to abolish life imprisonment, in 1884.[3]

Where life imprisonment is a possible sentence, there may also exist formal mechanisms for requesting parole after a certain period of prison time. This means that a convict could be entitled to spend the rest of the sentence (until that individual dies) outside prison. Early release is usually conditional on past and future conduct, possibly with certain restrictions or obligations. In contrast, when a fixed term of imprisonment has ended, the convict is free. The length of time served and the conditions surrounding parole vary. Being eligible for parole does not necessarily ensure that parole will be granted. In some countries, including Sweden, parole does not exist but a life sentence may – after a successful application – be commuted to a fixed-term sentence, after which the offender is released as if the sentence served was that originally imposed.

In many countries around the world, particularly in the Commonwealth, courts have the authority to pass prison terms that may amount to de facto life imprisonment, meaning that the sentence would last longer than the human life expectancy.[4] For example, courts in South Africa have handed out at least two sentences that have exceeded a century, while in Tasmania, Australia, Martin Bryant, the perpetrator of the Port Arthur massacre in 1996, received 35 life sentences plus 1,035 years without parole. In the United States, James Holmes, the perpetrator of the 2012 Aurora theater shooting, received 12 consecutive life sentences plus 3,318 years without the possibility of parole.[5] In the case of mass murder in the US, Parkland mass murderer Nikolas Cruz was sentenced to 34 consecutive terms of life imprisonment (without parole) for murdering 17 people and injuring another 17 at a school.[6] Any sentence without parole effectively means a sentence cannot be suspended; a life sentence without parole, therefore, means that in the absence of extraordinary circumstances such as pardon, amnesty or humanitarian grounds (e.g. imminent death), the prisoner will certainly spend the rest of their life in prison, regardless of their behaviour. In several countries where de facto life terms are used, a release on humanitarian grounds (also known as compassionate release) is commonplace, such as in the case of Abdelbaset al-Megrahi. Since the behaviour of a prisoner serving a life sentence without parole is not relevant to the execution of such sentence, many people among lawyers, penitentiary specialists, criminologists, but most of all among human rights organizations oppose that punishment. In particular, they emphasize that when faced with a prisoner with no hope of being released ever, the prison has no means to discipline such convict effectively.

A few countries allow for a minor to be given a life sentence without parole; these include but are not limited to: Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina (only over the age of 16),[7] Australia, Belize, Brunei, Cuba, Dominica, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, the Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, and the United States. According to a University of San Francisco School of Law study, only the U.S. had minors serving such sentences in 2008.[8] In 2009, Human Rights Watch estimated that there were 2,589 youth offenders serving life sentences without the possibility for parole in the U.S.[9][10] Since the start of 2020, that number has fallen to 1,465.[11][12] The United States has the highest population of prisoners serving life sentences for both adults and minors, at a rate of 50 people per 100,000 (1 out of 2,000) residents imprisoned for life.[13]

World view

Life imprisonment laws around the world:[14]
  Life imprisonment is a legal penalty.
  Life imprisonment is a legal penalty, but with certain restrictions.
  Life imprisonment is illegal.
  Unknown

By country

In several countries, life imprisonment has been effectively abolished. Many of the countries whose governments have abolished both life imprisonment and indefinite imprisonment have been culturally influenced or colonized by Spain or Portugal and have written such prohibitions into their current constitutional laws (including Portugal itself but not Spain).[15][16]

Europe

A number of European countries have abolished all forms of indefinite imprisonment. Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina each set the maximum prison sentence at 45 years, and Portugal abolished all forms of life imprisonment with the prison reforms of Sampaio e Melo in 1884 and has a maximum sentence of 25 years.[17][18]

Life imprisonment in Spain was abolished in 1928, but reinstated in 2015 and upheld by the Constitutional Court in 2021.[15][16][19] Serbia previously had a maximum prison sentence of 40 years; life imprisonment was instated in 2019 by amendments to the country's criminal code, alongside a three-strikes law.[20]

In Europe, there are many jurisdictions where the law expressly provides for life sentences without the possibility of parole. These are England and Wales (within the United Kingdom; see Life imprisonment in England and Wales), the Netherlands, Moldova, Bulgaria,[21] Italy, Ukraine, Poland, Turkey, Russia, and Serbia.[22]

In Sweden, although the law does not expressly provide for life without the possibility of release, some convicted persons may never be released, on the grounds that they are too dangerous. In Italy, persons who refuse to cooperate with authorities and are sentenced for mafia activities or terrorism are ineligible for parole and thus will spend the rest of their lives in prison. In Austria, life imprisonment will mean imprisonment for the remainder of the offender's life unless clemency is granted by the President of Austria or it can be assumed that the convicted person will not commit any further crimes; the probationary period is ten years.[23] In Malta, prior to 2018, there was previously never any possibility of parole for any person sentenced to life imprisonment, and any form of release from a life sentence was only possible by clemency granted by the President of Malta. In France, while the law does not expressly provide for life imprisonment without any possibility of parole, a court can rule in exceptionally serious circumstances that convicts are ineligible for automatic parole consideration after 30 years if convicted of child murder involving rape or torture, premeditated murder of a state official or terrorism resulting in death. In Moldova, there is never a possibility of parole for anyone sentenced to life imprisonment, as life imprisonment is defined as the "deprivation of liberty of the convict for the entire rest of his/her life". Where mercy is granted in relation to a person serving life imprisonment, imprisonment thereof must not be less than 30 years. In Ukraine, life imprisonment means for the rest of one's life with the only possibilities for release being a terminal illness or a presidential pardon.[24] In Albania, while no person sentenced to life imprisonment is eligible for standard parole, a conditional release is still possible if the prisoner is found not likely to re-offend and has displayed good behaviour, and has served at least 25 years.

Before 2016 in the Netherlands, there was never a possibility of parole for any person sentenced to life imprisonment, and any form of release for life convicted in the country was only possible when granted royal decree by the King of the Netherlands, with the last granting of a pardon taking place in 1986 when a terminally ill convict was released. As of 1970, the Dutch monarch has pardoned a total of three convicts. Although there is no possibility of parole eligibility, since 2016 prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment in the Netherlands are eligible to have their cases reviewed after serving at least 25 years. This change in law was because the European Court of Human Rights stated in 2013 that lifelong imprisonment without the chance of being released is inhuman.[25]

Even in other European countries that do provide for life without parole, courts continue to retain judicial discretion to decide whether a sentence of life should include parole or not. In Albania, the decision of whether or not a life-convicted person is eligible for parole is up to the prison complex after 25 years have been served, and release eligibility depends on the prospect of rehabilitation and how likely they are to re-offend. In Europe, only Ukraine and Moldova explicitly exclude parole or any form of sentence commutation for life sentences in all cases.

South America

In South and Central America, Honduras, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Venezuela, Colombia, Uruguay, Bolivia, Ecuador, and the Dominican Republic have all abolished life imprisonment. The maximum sentence is 75 years in El Salvador, 60 years in Colombia, 50 years in Costa Rica and Panama, 40 years in Honduras and Brazil,[26] 30 years in Nicaragua, Bolivia, Uruguay, Venezuela and the Dominican Republic, and 25 years in Paraguay and Ecuador.

Canada

This section is an excerpt from Life imprisonment in Canada.[edit]

Life imprisonment in Canada is a criminal sentence for certain offences that lasts for the offender’s life. Parole is possible, but even if paroled, the offender remains under the supervision of Corrections Canada for their lifetime, and can be returned to prison for parole violations.

A person serving a life sentence must serve for a certain length of time before becoming eligible for parole. First degree murder and high treason carry the longest period of parole ineligibility in the Criminal Code, at 25 years. Parole eligibility for second degree murder typically varies between 10 and 25 years, and is set by the sentencing judge.

A life sentence is the most severe punishment for any crime in Canada. Criminal laws are enacted by the Parliament of Canada and apply uniformly across the country.[27]

United States

Main article: Life imprisonment in the United States

In 2011, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that sentencing minors to life without parole, automatically (as the result of a statute) or as the result of a judicial decision, for crimes other than intentional homicide, violated the Eighth Amendment's ban on "Cruel and unusual punishments", in the case of Graham v. Florida.[28]

Mugshot of Burton Phillips, sentenced to life imprisonment for bank robbery, 1935

Graham v. Florida was a significant case in juvenile justice. In Jacksonville, Florida, Terrence J. Graham tried to rob a restaurant along with three adolescent accomplices. During the robbery, one of Graham's accomplices had a metal bar that he used to hit the restaurant manager twice in the head. Once arrested, Graham was charged with attempted armed robbery and armed burglary with assault/battery. The maximum sentence he faced for these charges was life without the possibility of parole, and the prosecutor wanted to charge him as an adult. During the trial, Graham pleaded guilty to the charges, resulting in three years of probation, one year of which had to be served in jail. Since he had been awaiting trial in jail, he already served six months and, therefore, was released after six additional months.[29]

Within six months of his release, Graham was involved in another robbery. Since he violated the conditions of his probation, his probation officer reported to the trial court about his probation violations a few weeks before Graham turned 18 years old. It was a different judge presiding over his trial for the probation violations a year later. While Graham denied any involvement in the robbery, he did admit to fleeing from the police. The trial court found that Graham violated his probation by "committing a home invasion robbery, possessing a firearm, and associating with persons engaged in criminal activity",[29] and sentenced him to 15 years for the attempted armed robbery plus life imprisonment for the armed burglary. The life sentence Graham received meant he had a life sentence without the possibility of parole, "because Florida abolished their parole system in 2003".[29]

Graham's case was presented to the Supreme Court of the United States, with the question of whether juveniles should receive life without the possibility of parole in non-homicide cases. The Justices eventually ruled that such a sentence violated the juvenile's 8th Amendment rights, protecting them from punishments that are disproportionate to the crime committed,[29] resulting in the abolition of life sentences without the possibility of parole in non-homicide cases for juveniles.

In 2012, the Supreme Court ruled in the case of Miller v. Alabama in a 5–4 decision and with the majority opinion written by Associate Justice Elena Kagan that mandatory sentences of life in prison without parole for juvenile offenders are unconstitutional. The majority opinion stated that barring a judge from considering mitigating factors and other information, such as age, maturity, and family and home environment violated the Eighth Amendment ban on cruel and unusual punishment. Sentences of life in prison without parole can still be given to juveniles for aggravated first-degree murder, as long as the judge considers the circumstances of the case.[30][31]

In 2016 the Supreme Court ruled in the case of Montgomery v. Louisiana that the rulings imposed by Miller v. Alabama were to apply retroactively. In 2022, the Supreme Court ruled in Jones v. Mississippi that judges do not need to find a minor to be "permanently incorrigible" prior to handing them a sentence of life sentence without parole.

Vatican City

Pope Francis called for the abolition of both capital punishment and life imprisonment in a meeting with representatives of the International Association of Penal Law. He also stated that life imprisonment, removed from the Vatican City penal code in 2013, is just a variation of the death penalty.[32]

Malaysia

Originally in Malaysia, life imprisonment was construed as a jail term lasting the remainder of a convict's natural life. In April 2023, the Malaysian government officially abolished natural life imprisonment and instead redefined a life sentence as a jail term between 30 and 40 years. At the time of the reform, at least 117 prisoners were serving natural life imprisonment, consisting of 70 whose original death sentences were commuted to life prior to the reform, and another 47 whose sentences of life were imposed by the courts, and all of these life convicts were allowed to have their jail terms reduced to between 30 and 40 years in jail.[33] In November 2023, four drug traffickers - Zulkipli Arshad, Wan Yuriilhami Wan Yaacob, Ghazalee Kasim and Mohamad Junaidi Hussin - became the first group of people to have their natural life sentences reduced to 30 years’ imprisonment after a re-sentencing hearing by the Federal Court of Malaysia, which was followed by many more such commutations in the months to come.[34][35]

Singapore

Main article: Life imprisonment in Singapore

In Singapore, before 20 August 1997, the law decreed that life imprisonment is a fixed sentence of 20 years with the possibility of one-third reduction of the sentence (13 years and 4 months) for good behaviour. It was an appeal by Abdul Nasir bin Amer Hamsah on 20 August 1997 that led to the law in Singapore to change the definition of life imprisonment into a sentence that lasts the remainder of the prisoner's natural life, with the possibility of parole after at least 20 years. Abdul Nasir was a convicted robber and kidnapper who was, in two separate High Court trials, sentenced to 18 years' imprisonment and 18 strokes of the cane for robbery with hurt resulting in a female Japanese tourist's death at Oriental Hotel in 1994 and a consecutive sentence of life imprisonment with 12 strokes of the cane for kidnapping two police officers for ransom in 1996, which totalled up to 38 years' imprisonment and 30 strokes of the cane.[36]

Abdul Nasir's appeal for the two sentences to run concurrently led to the Court of Appeal of Singapore, which dismissed Abdul Nasir's appeal, to decide that it would be wrong to consider life imprisonment as a fixed jail term of 20 years and thus changed it to a jail term to be served for the rest of the prisoner's remaining lifespan.[36] The amended definition is applied to future crimes committed after 20 August 1997. Since Abdul Nasir committed the crime of kidnapping and was sentenced before 20 August 1997, his life sentence remained as a prison term of 20 years and thus he still had to serve 38 years behind bars.[37][38][39][40]

The appeal of Abdul Nasir, titled Abdul Nasir bin Amer Hamsah v Public Prosecutor [1997] SGCA 38,[36] was since regarded as a landmark in Singapore's legal history as it changed the definition of life imprisonment from "life" to "natural life" under the law.

Overview by jurisdiction

More information Jurisdiction (link to details), Minimum to serve before eligibility for requesting parole ...

See also

Notes

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    "Laws of Other Nations". usfca.edu. Archived from the original on 27 June 2015.
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    "The Rest of Their Lives: Life without Parole for Child Offenders in the United States Archived 27 June 2015 at the Wayback Machine", 2008.
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    Offences including piracy; murder of a UN or associated person; explosives and lethal device offences; treason; assisting anyone known to have committed treason escape apprehension or punishment; knowing someone intends to commit a treason offence and not reporting it to the police or taking reasonable measure to prevent its commission; assisting enemy to engage in armed conflict; treachery; espionage; aggravated espionage offences; terrorism; planning or preparing for a terrorist act; financing terrorism; financing a terrorist; murder of an Australian citizen or resident; entering a foreign country with the intention of engaging in a hostile activity; engaging in a hostile activity in a foreign country, or engaging in conduct preparatory to, including providing or participating in training, accumulating weapons or giving or receiving goods and services to commit a foreign incursion offence; allowing the use of a building, aircraft or vessel intending to commit, support or promote a foreign incursion offence; burglary of a property owned by a Commonwealth entity with the intent to commit an offence that causes harm to a person or damage to property; genocide offences; crimes against humanity (murder and extermination); war crimes; trafficking or manufacturing a commercial quantity of controlled drugs; cultivating or selling commercial quantities of controlled plants; importing or exporting commercial quantities of controlled drugs or plants; importing commercial quantities of a controlled drug or plant; possessing commercial quantities of a controlled drug or plant reasonably believed to have been imported; supplying marketable quantities of controlled drugs to children for trafficking; procuring children for trafficking marketable quantities of controlled drugs; procuring children for pre-trafficking marketable quantities of controlled precursors; procuring children for importing or exporting marketable quantities of a controlled drug or plant or for importing or exporting marketable quantities of border controlled precursors (Criminal Code Act (Cth))
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    • NSW: Murder; aggravated sexual assault in company; sexual intercourse with a child under 10; persistent sexual abuse of a child (Crimes Act (NSW)). Drug offences involving commercial quantities or cultivation for a commercial purpose; offences involving manufacture or production in presence of children or procuring children to supply prohibited drugs (Drug Misuse and Trafficking Act (NSW)).
    • Vic: Murder; trafficking in a drug of dependence (large commercial quantity)
    • QLD: Demands with menaces upon agencies of government; riot, if the offender causes grievous bodily harm to a person, causes an explosive substance to explode or destroys or starts to destroy a building, vehicle or machinery; piracy; perjury, in order to procure the conviction of another person for a crime punishable with life imprisonment; conspiracy to bring a false accusation where the offence is such that the person convicted would be liable to life imprisonment; owner etc permitting carnal knowledge of a child under 12 on premises; carnal knowledge of a child under 12, or a child under 16 by a guardian of that non-lineal descendant child; or a child under 16 with an impairment of the mind; carnal knowledge or attempted carnal knowledge of a non-lineal descendant with an impairment of the mind by a guardian; taking a child under 12 for immoral purpose and doing carnal knowledge; incest; maintaining a sexual relationship by an adult with a child under 16; attempted murder; accessory after the fact to murder; manslaughter; aiding suicide; killing unborn child; unlawful striking causing death; disabling or stupefying in order to commit an indictable offence; acts intended to cause grievous bodily harm and other malicious acts; obstructing rescue or escape from unsafe premises; endangering the safety of a person in a vehicle with intent; rape; aggravated sexual assault; aggravated robbery; aggravated attempted robbery; extortion where carrying out threat causes or would be likely to cause serious personal injury or substantial economic loss in a commercial activity; taking control of an aircraft using violence, threats of violence, in company or by fraudulent means; burglary by breaking and other circumstances of aggravation; breaking and committing an indictable offence; arson; endangering the safe use of vehicles and transport infrastructure; destroying or damaging premises by explosion; destroying sea walls and other property; communicating infectious diseases to animals; attempting to commit an indictable offence punishable by mandatory life imprisonment; being an accessory to the fact after an indictable offence punishable by mandatory life imprisonment (Criminal Code (QLD))
    • WA: Attempt to unlawfully kill; criminal damage by fire (Criminal Code (WA)). Possessing, with intent to sell or supply, a trafficable quantity (>28g) of methylamphetamine; conspiring with another to, or attempting to, commit a methylamphetamine trafficking offence (Misuse of Drugs Act (WA))
    SA: Manslaughter; aggravated causing death or causing serious harm by use of a vehicle or vessel; rape; unlawful sexual intercourse with a person under 14; property damage of building or motor vehicle by fire (arson) or explosives; aggravated robbery; aggravated serious criminal trespass of residential buildings; manufacture of a commercial quantity of a controlled drug for sale; sell, supply, or administer a controlled drug to a child or possession of a controlled drug intending to sell, supply or administer to a child; sell, supply, or administer a controlled drug to a person in a school zone, or possession of a controlled drug in a school zone intending to sell, supply or administer the drug to another person; trafficking a commercial quantity of a controlled drug; cultivating a commercial quantity of a controlled plant for sale (includes cannabis); sale of a commercial quantity of a controlled plant or possession with intention to sell (includes cannabis - prescribed amount - 100 plants; but in aggravated circumstances, 20 plants)
    • Tas: Murder; treason; accessory after the fact guilty of treason
    • ACT: Murder; trafficking in a controlled drug; manufacturing a controlled drug for selling; cultivating a controlled plant for selling; selling a controlled plant; supplying controlled drug to child for selling; procuring a child to traffic a controlled drug
    • NT: Manslaughter; assisting or encouraging a suicide; killing an unborn child; disabling or stupefying in order to commit an indictable offence; acts intended to cause serious harm or prevent lawful apprehension; preventing escape from wreck; intentionally endangering safety of persons travelling by railway, roadway, aircraft or ship; sexual intercourse without consent; causing a child under 12 to enter into or continue in sexual servitude; operating a business that involves the sexual servitude of a child under 12; aggravated robbery (armed, in company or causing harm to any person immediately before or after or during the robbery); discharging a firearm while armed in the course of assault with intent to steal; unlawfully taking control of an aircraft with violence or threats, in company or while armed; sabotage; arson; endangering operation of an aircraft; conspiracy to lay false charges where the person found guilty would have been liable to life imprisonment; terrorism; perjury in order to procure the conviction of an offence punishable by life imprisonment; forcibly rescuing certain offenders; aggravated sexual relationship with a child (Criminal Code Act (NT)). Supply of a commercial quantity of a dangerous drug (Schedule 1 or 2) to a child; supply of a dangerous drug (Schedule 1) to a child; cultivation of a commercial quantity of a prohibited plant in the presence of a child; manufacture of a commercial quantity of a Schedule 1 dangerous drug; manufacture of a commercial or trafficable quantity of a Schedule 1 drug in the presence of a child; procuring a child under 14 to commit an offence under the Misuse of Drugs Act (Misuse of Drugs Act (NT))
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    Brazil's constitution prohibits the death penalty with a saving allowing the death penalty in wartime, if the state of war is duly declared by Congress (art. 5, item XLVII, subitem "a)"); the Constitution's next line (art. 5, item XLVII, subitem "b)"), prohibits life sentences. The clause prohibiting life imprisonment does not contain a saving similar to the death penalty clause, and thus life sentences are not allowed even in wartime. It is unclear, however, if the presidential power of mercy, that allows the president to pardon or commute a penal sentence, could be used to reduce a death penalty imposed in wartime, transforming it into a sentence of life imprisonment.
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