A Road Out of Europe? Life without Parole in England & Wales

• In Event: Punitiveness in Policy and in Practice

Abstract

In its acceptability, use, and expansion, the sentence of life without parole makes England and Wales an outlier in Europe. Whilst the Netherlands also makes use of the sentence, the Netherlands is a country with a declining sentencing and imprisonment rate whilst England and Wales are on an opposing trajectory. Through an examination of homicide rates, as well as anti-European rhetoric directed at the European Court of Human Rights and its attempted regulation of the sentence, this paper predicts further movement away from traditional European sentencing approaches and a closer, even if selective alignment with more transatlantic attitudes towards life sentencing.

Author

• Mark Pettigrew, University of Derby