Legal News

The 51, year old killer who murdered his parents, sister and her two little boys back in 1985 is making a last ditch attempt to have his whole life tariff declared “inhuman and degrading” before Europe’s biggest court.
Britain's policy of locking up its most violent criminals indefinitely crushes human dignity and leaves them hopeless and dangerous, Strasbourg judges were told today.
Bamber, along with two other murderers is arguing that it was a breach of his human rights not to have any hope of being released.
The case could have major ramifications for 42 of the country's most violent criminals, serving whole life tariffs. Their only chance of release is on compassionate grounds if they are close to death though that, judges heard today, had never happened.
Already the British government is involved in a quarrel with the European court over the voting rights of prisoners and this case would be watched with keen interest within the UK just days after the Court of Appeal had ruled that whole life sentences were not a breach of human rights.
The ECHR in a previous hearing had backed the UK policy in January when Bamber, and two other killers Peter Moore, 66, and Douglas Vinter, 43, had brought a case before the ECHR.
By a majority of four to three they argued that such a sentence was not "grossly disproportionate" for the country's most notorious criminals and did not violate Article 3, prohibition of inhuman or degrading treatment, of the convention, but allowed an appeal.
Yesterday, before the 21 judges of the Grand Chamber, Pete Weatherby QC, representing Vinter and the two others said imposition of whole life sentence crushed human dignity from the outset, removing any chance, and therefore any hope of release in the future. The individual was left in a position of hopelessness whereby he could not progress whatever happened.
He pointed out that the UK was almost the only country in the Europe in imposing irreducible life sentences, with England and Wales having more prisoners serving life sentences, 13,000, than the rest of the Council of Europe states put together.
Mr Weatherby argued that England and Wales should return to its position prior to 2003 when a case could be reviewed by the Home Secretary after 25 years. Scotland and Ireland did not have such a law he said. He said the applicants need not be released necessarily but they just should not have all prospect of future taken away right at the outset of their sentence.
David Perry QC for government told the court that some heinous crimes deserved such sentencing which was a last resort citing Babar Ahmad extradition case he said Ahmad was also facing life sentence without parole in the US if convicted and it would be inconsistent if the court found this instant case as breach of the convention.