GENEVA - The Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, Alice Jill Edwards, today welcomed renewed proposals for a reconsideration exercise to address the longstanding crisis of Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) sentences in England and Wales.
Peers in the House of Lords have suggested that current or former justices could lead a structured review of individual cases affecting the nearly 2,500 individuals still incarcerated under abolished IPP terms.
"A reconsideration exercise led by experienced judges is a pragmatic compromise that could pave the way toward individualised and just outcomes for those affected," Edwards said. "Something must be done to prevent the continuation of what has become a never-ending saga of injustice and cruelty."
"In its original form, the IPP scheme was intended to protect the public, but in practice it has left thousands of individuals detained indefinitely - often far beyond their tariff - without meaningful prospects for release," she said.
IPP sentences were introduced between 2005 and 2012 and abolished in 2012, but this abolition did not apply retrospectively, and many prisoners remain under indeterminate detention.
"These unfair criminal penalties have pushed many prisoners into serious mental health crises," the Special Rapporteur said.
She stressed that individuals who have over-served their prison terms and who are now assessed as having serious mental illness should be transferred into appropriate mental health services, including residential care where necessary.
"Continuing to imprison them for mental health, rather than their crimes, is against principles of fair criminal justice and the rule of law," the expert said.
Edwards urged the Government and the Parliament to give serious consideration to this judicial reconsideration mechanism. "A reconsideration process, paired with robust mental health pathways, would not only address the legacy of IPP sentences but would also align UK practice with fundamental human rights standards and the prohibition against torture and other inhuman or cruel and degrading punishment," she said.
The Special Rapporteur has raised these issues with the Government and will continue to press for action.
