Life Sentences and Whole Life Orders - IPRT

19th March 2025

The recent article ‘Whole-life sentences for most heinous crimes would send clear message that ‘life will mean life’’ (19 March 2025) highlights comments by Fine Gael TD Paula Butterly who proposes an amendment to the forthcoming Life Sentences Bill to include a provision for Whole Life Sentences.  

The Irish Penal Reform Trust (IPRT) is fully opposed to the introduction of Whole Life Orders, not least because they have been found to breach Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights which prohibits torture, along with inhumane, or degrading treatment or punishment. In fact, we note that the Department of Justice – in advance of publishing the Heads of Bill for the Life Sentences Bill last year – conducted a comprehensive ‘Overview of Life Sentences and the Whole Life Order’ and concluded that introducing such a measure could “prove legally problematic in this jurisdiction and give rise to the question of constitutionality, due to such limited prospects of release and no clear review mechanism”. 

IPRT questions the need for new legislation given that the recently established independent Parole Board – tasked with assessing people sentenced to life imprisonment for release after serving a minimum of 12 years – is barely up and running. The Board engages with a wide range of stakeholders – including the victim’s family – to ensure that they make an informed decision based on all the evidence before them. Already they have taken a measured approach and in 2023, eight people were released on parole having served an average of 21 years 10 months. We would argue that a better use of resources and political energy would be to adequately resource the Parole Board, not only to deal with people sentenced to life imprisonment but those serving long sentences for serious crimes.   

To be clear, “life” does mean life, even if a person is not behind bars. On release, someone serving a life sentence is subject to both supervision for the rest of their lives and parole conditions – often including that they cannot live in the same place where the crime was committed to avoid retraumatising victims. If they breach these conditions, they will be recalled to prison. 

While this may not seem to some like a severe enough punishment for some, our criminal justice system is built on the principles of reform and rehabilitation. We must believe in the power of people to change and provide them with this opportunity. While not everyone will take this chance, IPRT firmly believes that those who do and have served their sentence, shown remorse, have meaningfully engaged with rehabilitative programmes and no longer pose any threat to society, should be offered a second chance.