Sunday 31 October 2010

Law of Unintended Consequences

If ever there was a good example of why criminal justice policy should not be the subject of party politics, the mess we're now in with IPP sentences would be it. It was all part of Tony Blair's  sound bite pitch to the electorate 'tough on crime, tough on the causes of crime' and in 2005 landed us with a new Indeterminate sentence for Public Protection.

As I have said before, it was intended to be used sparingly but like a life sentence, irrespective of the tariff set, release would only occur when the Parole Board were satisfied that any risk factors had reduced. This usually means that the prisoner has to undertake certain courses such as CALM or SOTP and can demonstrate successful completion. Unfortunately these courses are not run in all prisons, waiting lists can be lengthy and the courses themselves are not short in duration. All this is compounded by often very short tariff dates, typically 2 or 3 years and the sheer numbers involved, now well over 2,500 in addition to the ordinary lifer population.

There is now a wide acceptance that the whole thing has been a huge mistake and a growing chorus of academics, politicians, lawyers and criminal justice organisations are calling for an urgent review of the law itself, it's operation in terms of appropriate course provision and release arrangements including risk assessments. The Prison Governors Association and HM Inspector of Prisons and Probation have already spoken out and now the Guardian is reporting that the incoming Chairman of the Bar Council, Peter Lodder QC, has added his voice of concern. All this is no doubt helping to concentrate Ken Clarke's mind as his Justice department draws up the sentencing Green Paper due out next month. There is another very interesting article about IPP's in todays Observer.

  

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