Whole-life terms for some killers are "not manifestly excessive or wrong in principle", the Court of Appeal heard.
A lawyer for the attorney general said it would be "unduly lenient" not to impose a whole-life term if justified by the "seriousness of the offending".
The Court of Appeal is considering if such sentences are still legally possible.
Last year the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled they must be reviewed at some point.
But the UK government says whole-life tariffs are "wholly justified in the most heinous cases".
James Eadie QC, representing Attorney General Dominic Grieve, told the court that the ECHR judgement did not remove the right of judges to impose a whole-life order - it only raised a question for the state as to whether there should be a later review.
This appeal really matters because of its legal and political implications. In the wake of last year's European court ruling, some trial judges are no longer clear whether they can still lock up an offender and throw away the key - so it's the Court of Appeal's role to set new guidance.
That guidance will take into account what Parliament has said about the issue, case law down the years, and consider whether Strasbourg has any role to play in the matter.
The political implications are clear: Prime Minister David Cameron has already said that he profoundly disagreed with Strasbourg's ruling on this matter - even though its judges said they accepted the principle of a whole-life sentence.
If the Court of Appeal were to rule that Europe was right - that could lead to more appeals from the worst killers in jail - and an even bigger row with Europe.
"There is no problem," he said. "Whole-life orders are not in principle or nature incompatible [with the European Convention of Human Rights].
"There is no basis for interfering with these sentences."
Three cases have come to the Court of Appeal, two involving killers on whole-life tariffs, because of last year's controversial European court ruling.
Lee Newell was already serving a life sentence for murder when he strangled a fellow inmate at Long Lartin Prison.
A second man, Matthew Thomas, murdered one woman before kidnapping and raping another - two months after being released from prison for another rape.
The attorney general has previously stated that a third killer, Ian McLoughlin, received an "unduly lenient" sentence after killing someone while on temporary release from prison, where he was already serving a sentence for murder.
The sentencing of the two men who murdered Fusilier Lee Rigby has been postponed until after this appeal.
Controversial rulingThe ECHR, in Strasbourg, ruled that there should be some possibility of having sentences reviewed - 25 years into their term at the very latest.
That decision prompted the judge dealing with McLoughlin to sentence him to 40 years, rather than a whole-life term.
Speaking on BBC Breakfast on Friday, Trisha Bergan - whose son Jerome, 27, was stabbed and killed in 2002 - said: "Sentences are too light. We are victims too. What about our human rights?"
Guidelines according to schedule 21 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003:
- A whole-life order for "exceptionally" serious offences
- 30 years for the murder of a police or prison officer on duty - and murders involving firearms or explosives; for gain; to obstruct or interfere with the course of justice; involving two or more persons; involving sexual or sadistic conduct; or aggravated by race, religion or sexual orientation
- 25 years where the offender took a knife or other weapon to the scene
- 15 years for all other offences
Her son's killer, paranoid schizophrenic Aaron Oliver, was jailed for four-and-a-half years for manslaughter on grounds of diminished responsibility.
Prison law expert Simon Creighton told the programme: "All sentences have to have some ideal of hope."
Judges can consider a whole-life term in exceptional cases - including those who kill a child for a sexual motive.
The outcome of the appeals could determine the future direction of sentencing for the most serious killers in England and Wales, as well as have an impact on the 52 prisoners currently on whole-life terms.
They include Mark Bridger, convicted of the 2012 sexually-motivated murder of five-year-old April Jones in Powys.
The appeal court judges' decision, which is expected at a later date, could also affect the terms given to the killers of Fusilier Rigby.
Anda sedang membaca artikel tentang
Whole-life sentences 'not wrong'
Dengan url
http://beritaberbagiceria.blogspot.com/2014/01/whole-life-sentences-not-wrong.html
Anda boleh menyebar luaskannya atau mengcopy paste-nya
Whole-life sentences 'not wrong'
namun jangan lupa untuk meletakkan link
Whole-life sentences 'not wrong'
sebagai sumbernya
0 komentar:
Posting Komentar