Data on the number of people serving a formal life sentence – estimated in 2014 to be around half a million (479,000) – does not include people in prison under informal, de facto or virtual life sentences.
Reforms to sentencing frameworks tend to result in longer sentences, and this is leading to more life sentences, as well as longer minimum sentences. Most recently in Jamaica, for example, the Government announced plans to increase the mandatory minimum sentences for murder from 15 and 20 years, depending on the charges, to 40 and 50 years, respectively, with politicians citing high rates of murder across the country. New legislation in England and Wales in 2022 has made it possible for judges to impose a life sentence without the possibility of release (a whole life order) for young adults aged 18-20 convicted of certain crimes, which was previously only possible for people aged 21 and over. This is a sentence that cannot be imposed across most European nations. Research has also shown that in some countries, such as in Japan and Taiwan, efforts to abolish the death penalty have unintentionally resulted in support or calls for legally enforceable life sentences without the possibility of parole.
Conversely, there were some moves in the past year to limit the use of life sentences, like in Malaysia where ‘natural’ life sentences will be abolished (see Death Penalty). In Canada, the Supreme Court set down limits on the ability to impose a de facto life without parole sentence, ruling that an extended minimum period of multiples of 25 years would be a ‘cruel and unusual’ punishment in violation of human rights law. Jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights was cited in the ruling in which the Court would not accept a sentencing regime that denies a reasonable prospect of release. Also in India, where half of the country’s prison population are serving life sentences, authorities in the state of Uttarakhand accepted a proposal from the prison department to release people serving a life sentence after 14 years on the grounds of good conduct in November 2022. This was, however, followed by a new law in February 2023 that could see people caught cheating in examinations being handed down a life sentence.
Further evidence has recently pointed to the harsher regimes imposed on people serving life sentences.
In Bulgaria, a report made public on the findings of the 2021 visit of the UN Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture described the regime for people sentenced to life imprisonment, including life without parole, as ‘purely punitive living conditions.’ It included protracted periods in isolation and partial to total exclusion from work and other rehabilitation programmes. This is similar to other nations in Eastern Europe and Central Asia that routinely impose stringent conditions and poor regimes on individuals serving life sentences.
In Moldova, 28 people serving life sentences went on hunger strike during November and December 2022 to protest aspects of their regime and the handling of their applications for release, after serving at least 30 years in prison. A report published on the situation for people serving life by the country’s Ombudsperson (People’s Advocate) recommended reviews of files to assess eligibility for commutation of sentences allowed in law, and informing individuals of this right, as well as improvement to conditions such as provision of food, access to rehabilitation programmes and allowing physical contact during visits.