The Experts below are selected from a list of 330 Experts worldwide ranked by ideXlab platform
John L Anderson - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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recidivism of paroled murderers as a factor in the utility of Life Imprisonment
Social Science Research Network, 2019Co-Authors: John L AndersonAbstract:When a convicted murderer violently re-offends after being released, a prominent media profile results, intense fear is engendered within the community and it generates vigorous commentary, usually and understandably critical of the offender. On the other hand, there is evidence that most murders are opportunistic and singular. In this article Australian and international recidivism literature is synthesised in the specific context of murderers released to parole. This recidivism data is then analysed and evaluated as a factor in the utility of Life sentences as a punishment for murder. A comprehensive synthesis, analysis and evaluation of the literature reveals that a moderately small percentage of paroled murderers recidivate by committing a violent offence and even fewer kill again. As recidivism is of significant weight in the measure of the success or otherwise of sentencing and corrections, it is contended that Life Imprisonment when it means indefinite incarceration without the opportunity for parole is of limited, if any, utility for most convicted murderers and for the community from which they have been excluded.
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recidivism of paroled murderers as a factor in the utility of Life Imprisonment
Current Issues in Criminal Justice, 2019Co-Authors: John L AndersonAbstract:When a convicted murderer violently re-offends after being released, a prominent media profile results, intense fear is engendered within the community and vigorous commentary ensues, usually and u...
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the label of Life Imprisonment in australia a principled or populist approach to an ultimate sentence
Social Science Research Network, 2012Co-Authors: John L AndersonAbstract:The sentence of Life Imprisonment is universally either the maximum or mandatory penalty for the crime of murder in the various states and territories of Australia. It is also provided as a maximum or mandatory sentence for some other serious crimes. It is the most severe punishment available in jurisdictions where capital punishment has been abolished. In its 'truthful' form it means that the person will serve Imprisonment for the term of their natural Life. In practice, however, sentences of Life Imprisonment even when expressed in mandatory terms rarely exist without the eventual possibility of the offender being released. Using the label of 'Life sentence' can therefore be misleading and rather than being an effective form of denunciation of crime it may be reflective only of populist sentiment for extreme retribution. It will be argued that in those Australian jurisdictions where a mandatory Life sentence applies upon conviction for murder it does not provide a mechanism for reflecting, in a transparent and equitable manner, the different levels of culpability that exist between the conduct constituting murder and the offenders responsible for such conduct. The early release of prisoners subject to a 'mandatory' Life sentence demonstrates that such a sentence was not necessarily an appropriate disposition in the first instance. Thus it is simply being used as a populist 'law and order' device rather than a transparent and equitable sentencing option.
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the label of Life Imprisonment in australia a principled or populist approach to an ultimate sentence
University of New South Wales law journal, 2012Co-Authors: John L AndersonAbstract:The sentence of Life Imprisonment in modern penal systems is the 'most severe sanction at the disposal of the State' in jurisdictions where the death penalty has been abolished. It has singular significance as an ultimate penalty but its practical application and operation is an enduring enigma.
Julian V Roberts - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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retributivism penal censure and Life Imprisonment without parole
Criminal Justice Ethics, 2019Co-Authors: Netanel Dagan, Julian V RobertsAbstract:This article advances a censure-based case against sentences of Life Imprisonment without the possibility of parole. Our argument justifies a retributive “second look” assessment of long-term priso...
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retributivism penal censure and Life Imprisonment without parole
Social Science Research Network, 2019Co-Authors: Netanel Dagan, Julian V RobertsAbstract:This article advances a censure-based case against sentences of Life Imprisonment without the possibility of parole. Our argument justifies a retributive “second look” assessment of long-term prison sentences. The article focuses on the censuring element of long-term prison sentences while re-conceptualizing penal censure as a dynamic and responsive concept. By doing so, the article explores the significance of the prisoner’s Life after sentencing (largely ignored by retributivists) and promotes a more nuanced approach to censure-based proportionality. Policy-makers may welcome this approach as a way to control excessive prison sentences while remaining within a retributive penal framework. Although we are making a general argument about the need for responsive censure within a retributive sentencing regime, the case for this approach is particularly compelling at the present time. Almost all Western nations, and particularly the US, impose very lengthy, often Life sentences of Imprisonment for a wide range of offences, thereby affecting large numbers of prisoners.
Jamil Ddamulira Mujuzi - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Life Imprisonment in uganda is the principle of legal precedent in question
Common Law World Review, 2016Co-Authors: Jamil Ddamulira MujuziAbstract:In Uganda, legislation does not define ‘Life Imprisonment’. However, the 2006 Prisons Act provides that, for the purpose of remission, Life Imprisonment means 20 years’ Imprisonment. In 2011, the Supreme Court, the highest court in the country, held that Life Imprisonment should mean Imprisonment for the remainder of an offender’s natural Life. However, since then there have been cases from the Court of Appeal, the second highest court in Uganda, questioning the Supreme Court’s ruling. In a common law country where legal precedent is revered, this is unheard of. In this paper the author argues that although the Court of Appeal may not be impressed with the Supreme Court’s judgement, the principle of legal precedent obliges it to follow that judgement. The author submits that the sentence of Life Imprisonment remains Imprisonment for the remainder of the offender’s Life as interpreted by the Supreme Court and that the legislature may have to intervene to amend the law to expressly state what Life imprisonm...
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sentencing children to Life Imprisonment and or to be detained at the president s pleasure in eastern and southern africa
International Journal of Punishment and Sentencing The, 2010Co-Authors: Jamil Ddamulira MujuziAbstract:All eastern and southern African countries that retain the death penalty prohibit the imposition of that sentence on those convicted of heinous crimes such as murder when the perpetrator committed that offence when he was below the age of 18 years old. In some countries such offenders have to be detained at the President's pleasure. In some eastern and southern African countries such as South Africa, Namibia, and Mauritius the death penalty was abolished and Life Imprisonment is the severest sentence that could be imposed for the most heinous offence(s). This article discusses the application of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child to children who could be or have been sentenced to Life Imprisonment, and the laws and practice relating to the imposition of the sentence of Life Imprisonment and/or detention at the President's pleasure on people convicted of offences they committed while below the age of 18 years old in eastern and southern Africa. The article also discusses the law relating to the release of such offenders. The article calls for the abolition of the imposition of the sentence of Life Imprisonment and/or Imprisonment at the President's pleasure.
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the evolution of the meaning s of penal servitude for Life Life Imprisonment in mauritius the human rights and jurisprudential challenges confronted so far and those ahead
Journal of African Law, 2009Co-Authors: Jamil Ddamulira MujuziAbstract:This article analyses the history of the various meanings and interpretations of the sentence of penal servitude for Life in Mauritius, the human rights implications, and the likely challenges that courts will confront in interpreting new legislation. The Privy Council held in 2008 that a mandatory sentence of penal servitude for Life was arbitrary and disproportionate because it violated the right to a fair trial under the constitution. However, the article argues that the Privy Council should also have found that penal servitude for Life, where the offender is to be detained for the rest of his Life, violates the prisoner's right not to be subjected to inhuman punishment under the constitution, as well as violating Mauritius's international human rights obligations. It recommends that Mauritian courts consult South African jurisprudence when interpreting what amount to substantial and compelling circumstances under the 2007 Criminal Procedure (Amendment) Act.
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Life Imprisonment in south africa yesterday today and tomorrow
South African journal of criminal justice, 2009Co-Authors: Jamil Ddamulira MujuziAbstract:Life Imprisonment has been part of South Africa's penal regime for decades. This article analyses how this form of punishment has changed in meaning in since 1906. The author looks at Life Imprisonment during the death penalty period ; Life Imprisonment in the aftermath of the abolition of the death penalty ; Life Imprisonment under the Criminal Law Amendment Act, when it could only be imposed by the High Courts ; and Life Imprisonment during the Criminal Law Amendment Act, when the regional courts were also empowered to impose this sentence. The author discusses the laws and circumstances which prevailed in the above four periods. With Life Imprisonment now being the severest sentence that can be imposed in South Africa, the author highlights the challenges associated with it and calls upon the government, courts and civil society to think seriously about how this form of punishment should be administered so as to avoid confusing inmates and exposing the government to litigation.
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the prospect of rehabilitation as a substantial and compelling circumstance to avoid imposing Life Imprisonment in south africa a comment on s v nkomo
South African journal of criminal justice, 2008Co-Authors: Jamil Ddamulira MujuziAbstract:When the death penalty was declared unconstitutional in South Africa, the government enacted the Criminal Law Amendment Act in 1997 which, amongst other things, stipulated that a person convicted of some of the scheduled offences was to be sentenced to Life Imprisonment unless there were substantial and compelling circumstances. Many courts interpreted substantial and compelling circumstances in many different, and at times confusing, ways. The Supreme Court of Appeal clarified the meaning of substantial and compelling circumstance in the well-known Malgas case in which it held, inter alia, that courts should not lightly depart from imposing severe sentences, since the legislature had singled out the scheduled offences to be punished severely because they are serious offences. One of the criteria the Court set was that courts should not rely on 'speculative hypotheses favourable to the offender' to avoid imposing Life sentences. However, recently, in the Nkomo case, the Court held that the prospect of rehabilitation of the offender is a substantial and compelling circumstance to justify the imposition of a lesser sentence. This article analyses rehabilitation as an objective of punishment and highlights the likely challenges associated with the approach the Court seems to be adopting.
Netanel Dagan - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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retributivism penal censure and Life Imprisonment without parole
Criminal Justice Ethics, 2019Co-Authors: Netanel Dagan, Julian V RobertsAbstract:This article advances a censure-based case against sentences of Life Imprisonment without the possibility of parole. Our argument justifies a retributive “second look” assessment of long-term priso...
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retributivism penal censure and Life Imprisonment without parole
Social Science Research Network, 2019Co-Authors: Netanel Dagan, Julian V RobertsAbstract:This article advances a censure-based case against sentences of Life Imprisonment without the possibility of parole. Our argument justifies a retributive “second look” assessment of long-term prison sentences. The article focuses on the censuring element of long-term prison sentences while re-conceptualizing penal censure as a dynamic and responsive concept. By doing so, the article explores the significance of the prisoner’s Life after sentencing (largely ignored by retributivists) and promotes a more nuanced approach to censure-based proportionality. Policy-makers may welcome this approach as a way to control excessive prison sentences while remaining within a retributive penal framework. Although we are making a general argument about the need for responsive censure within a retributive sentencing regime, the case for this approach is particularly compelling at the present time. Almost all Western nations, and particularly the US, impose very lengthy, often Life sentences of Imprisonment for a wide range of offences, thereby affecting large numbers of prisoners.
Joris Van Wijk - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Life after conviction at international criminal tribunals an empirical overview
Journal of International Criminal Justice, 2014Co-Authors: Barbora Hola, Joris Van WijkAbstract:As of July 2013, the ICTY, ICTR and SCSL have together convicted and sentenced over 120 perpetrators of international crimes committed during the conflicts in the former Yugoslavia, Rwanda and Sierra Leone, respectively. Only 13% of these convicts serve Life Imprisonment. The vast majority has been sentenced to determinate sentences. According to the tribunals' Statutes convicted persons serve their sentences in a country designated by a tribunal. The enforcement of sentences, including any commutation of sentences, is governed by the laws of the countries of Imprisonment. 'International prisoners' have been scattered around Europe and Africa and almost half of the convicts have already been (early) released. So far not much has been written about conditions under which international prisoners serve their sentences; factors that justify their (early) release; and what they do after their release. In this article we provide an initial overview of this empirical reality of the postconviction stage at the international criminal tribunals. Since the ICC has adopted a largely similar approach to sentence enforcement, the findings might serve as a starting point for discussion and possible re-assessment of future enforcement of international sentences. © The Author (2014). Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved.
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Life after conviction at international criminal tribunals empirical overview
Social Science Research Network, 2013Co-Authors: Barbora Hola, Joris Van WijkAbstract:As of July 2013 the ICTY, ICTR and SCSL have together convicted and sentenced over 120 perpetrators of international crimes committed during the conflicts in the former Yugoslavia, Rwanda and Sierra Leone, respectively. Only 13% of the convicts serve Life Imprisonment. The vast majority has been sentenced to determinate sentences. According to the tribunals’ Statutes convicted persons serve their sentences in a country designated by a tribunal. The enforcement of sentences, including any commutation of sentences, is governed by the laws of the countries of Imprisonment. 'International prisoners' have been scattered around Europe and Africa and almost half of the convicts have already been (early) released. It is largely unknown under what conditions international prisoners serve their sentences, what factors justify their (early) release and what they do after their release. In this article we provide a detailed overview of this empirical reality of the post-conviction stage at the international criminal tribunals.