Child lifers: Developments in law and policy and the need for a distinct approach by criminal justice professionals

• In Event: Children convicted of homicide: criminal justice responses

Abstract

England and Wales stands out as one of the only jurisdictions in western Europe where indeterminate sentences (sentences that have no formal end date) can be imposed on children aged between 10 and 17. Research has shown the pains that children serving such sentences experience, including feelings of abandonment, loneliness and ‘deep despair’. Despite this, the number of children subject to indeterminate sentences in England and Wales has grown over the last decade, and recent changes in legislation have substantially increased the minimum terms in custody that judges must consider when imposing life sentences on those who have committed murder as children. This increasingly punitive legal response to children is in tension with other developments in law and policy that recognise the specific challenges and needs of children serving life sentences, as they progress through the system and into the community (e.g., shorter period on life licence, prioritisation for parole, improved support, and minimum term reviews). This article aims to bring the tension between the law and policy in this area into focus, and to highlight the important implications for practitioners working with ‘child lifers’.

Authors

• Laura Janes, London South Bank University

• Susie Hulley, University of Cambridge