Locked up – just in case

Where is the justice in being imprisoned – before commiting a crime?

by Ian Kirk-Smith 8th July 2011

  As the Justice Bill goes to the committee stage in parliament, support is growing for a thorough reform of the system of Indeterminate Sentences for Public Protection (IPP). The prime minister has announced an urgent review of the sentence and has promised to bring forward proposals in the autumn as part of the government’s justice reforms. Under the system of IPPs, people who have been sent to prison cannot be released, even after they have served the minimum tariff of their sentences, until they can convince a parole board that they will not re-offend when they leave jail.