What is 'life'?

flogen

I always get confused by this, probably because there are different meanings in different jurisdictions, but under Irish law what exactly is a life sentence?

I always thought it was 20 years (or maybe a minimum of 20 years) - can anyone clarify this?

Thirdfox

I was told by my criminal law professor it normally meant 12 years (shocked me too) - unless capital murder which gets 40 years mandatory.

Tom Young

8 - 12 years (Life) for a section 4. 1964 Murder.
40 Years for a section 3. of 1990 is 40 years (Capital)
Attempted capital murder is minimum 20 years.

S.1 of 1990 Criminal Justice Act, abolished the death penalty by referendum.

dermot_sheehan

Life imprisonment means that a person can be detained for the rest of their natural life.

The Minister for Justice however has the power to parole long serving prisoners. He is advised in this manner by the parole board. A person released on parole is on licence and may be reincarcerated at any stage by his licence being revoked.

The question of whether the minister grants parole is a matter of policy rather then law. The previous minister stated that he would not entertain applications for parole from persons who have served less then 14 years of a life sentence.

For persons convicted of capital murder or treason the minister does not have the power to parole them unless they have served 40 years of their life sentence.

flogen

gabhain7 wrote:

Life imprisonment means that a person can be detained for the rest of their natural life.

The Minister for Justice however has the power to parole long serving prisoners. He is advised in this manner by the parole board. A person released on parole is on licence and may be reincarcerated at any stage by his licence being revoked.

The question of whether the minister grants parole is a matter of policy rather then law. The previous minister stated that he would not entertain applications for parole from persons who have served less then 14 years of a life sentence.

For persons convicted of capital murder or treason the minister does not have the power to parole them unless they have served 40 years of their life sentence.

That seems a little at odds with what is said above - it would strike as dangerous to have a potentially unlimited sentence too.

dermot_sheehan

I believe the posters above were referring to the fact that it is the norm to consider granting parole between 12-20 years, this however is discretionary and no prisoner has a right to it, look at MacArthur, he's still in custody and was only convicted of 1 murder.

As regards to dangerous to have an indefinite sentence, most legal systems in the world have some sort of life sentence, and it must be remembered that mandatory life for murder in 1964 replaced the mandatory death penalty which existed previously.

The relevant legal provisions are section 2 of the Criminal Justice Act 1964
http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/1964/en/act/pub/0005/sec0002.html#zza5y1964s2

which imposes the sentence of life imprisonment for murder.

Section 23 of the Criminal Justice Act 1951 allows the minister for justice to grant parole:
http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/1951/en/act/pub/0002/sec0023.html#zza2y1951s23