Public survey on murder life sentences

Policy

04 Nov 10

New research suggests that public support for the mandatory sentence of life imprisonment for murder is much more limited than has traditionally been assumed.

Furthermore, public opinion on the sentencing of murderers seems to be based on a limited understanding of the current system, according to the survey by Professor Julian Roberts, from the Law Faculty at the University of Oxford, and Professor Barry Mitchell of Coventry University Law School.

The researchers, funded by the Nuffield Foundation, found no evidence of widespread public support for automatically sentencing all convicted murderers to life imprisonment, although the level of public support increased for more serious cases of murder.

These findings confirm previous research that the public believe different scenarios warrant different sentences. Given the choice when faced by a range of cases, they would support applying different sentences. However, the research says it is currently unclear how far there is a consensus about what constitutes a particularly serious murder.

Although the murder rate in England and Wales has actually started to decline, the vast majority of people still assume that the rate has increased over the last decade or at the very least has stayed the same. A large proportion of those surveyed underestimated the length of time that most murderers spend in prison before being released on life licence.

Their report says that if the law is to broadly correspond to public opinion, serious consideration should be given to restructuring the law of murder so that the mandatory life sentence is retained only for particularly serious cases. A recommendation along these lines was made by the Law Commission in 2006, but no action was taken by the Labour government.

The coalition government has committed to publishing a Green Paper on sentencing and rehabilitation in the coming months.
Professors Roberts and Mitchell also called for moves to promote greater awareness and a better understanding of the state’s response to murder in order to improve public confidence in the criminal justice system.