My notes, once known as “At her/his majesty’s pleasure.
There has been a long running campaign to amend this sentence which has been abolished, so no new ones can be made. It was established in 2005 and abolished on 2012. The ECHR has criticised the way in which the regime is designed and run. The UN have also criticised the regime describing it as “Cruel, Inhuman, and Degrading” and as arbitrary detention, illegal under international law.
The Howard League have also called for the decades long injustice of IPPs- to end.
A new act, Sentencing Act 2026, has just been passed, the key argument is around general re-sentencing. I asked Gemini, “Is general re-sentencing included in the Act?”, it said, No and more. I extract this quote, “While there were calls for a full resentencing exercise to address the ongoing injustice of the IPP sentence, the government rejected such amendments, arguing they would pose an unacceptable risk to public safety. However, the Act does introduce significant reforms to the management of IPP licenses.
Google gemini also reports on the numbers: google gemini on ipp & dpp
I looked for a draft motion has anyone published a motion opposing indefinite prison in the UK?, and the reply from gemini describes EDMs, Parliamentary reports and bills and Acts, which includes the Imprisonment for Public Protection (Re-sentencing) Bill [HL] which is a House of Lords private members bill, and on the 27th Jan it was waiting for its Lords Report stage to be scheduled.
From #lab25, not debated of course
Imprisonment for public protection (IPP) sentences were introduced in 2005 and abolished in 2012. The application of this law was not backdated, so thousands are still behind bars indefinitely. Those released live with the threat of a return to indefinite incarceration for misdemeanour offences or more concerning if a relapse in their mental health proves a perceived risk to the public.
Without adequate access to rehabilitation and in the latter case denial of care provision in the most appropriate place (hospital than prison), The European Court of human rights ruled in 2012 that this practice violated of human rights under Article 5. It is time this practice decried by the United Nations as “inhumane” was ended.
We call upon the Government to:
- Prioritise the review, and re-sentencing of all prisoners currently under an IPP, noting that around 70% have served 10 years more than the sentencing tariff.
- Take all reasonable steps to ensure that prisoners under an IPP have access to adequate support and appropriate healthcare provision to reduce their risk to the public allowing safe release.
- Allow urgent re-sentencing and risk assessment of those for whom the continuation of the IPP sentence has been deemed by a medical professional to be a specific barrier to the delivery of effective health care provision and recovery.