Topic summary
Life sentence
Extracted from the Wikipedia article Life imprisonment.
Law passes
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 ever being released, the prison has no means to discipline such a prisoner effectively. The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has considered the issue of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole, particularly in relation to Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which prohibits inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. The Court has ruled that irreducible life sentences (i.e. an imprisonment for life-regime without parole) violate Article 3. However, the Court has also stated that life sentences can be imposed without breaching Article 3 if there are guarantees of review and release.