Labor today announced a wide-ranging review of murder laws, taking the first step towards potentially abolishing life sentences for murder.
Attorney-General Shabana Mahmood said the Law Commission would carry out a “complete review” of laws governing the punishment of murderers.
The move is likely to lead to the creation of an American-style category of “second-degree murder,” previously dismissed by one Conservative cabinet minister as “minor murder.”
Ms Mahmoud’s department confirmed yesterday that if a lesser offense of murder were created, it would not impose the life sentence that judges currently have to impose on all convicted murderers.
Another effect of the move is that some murderers currently convicted of manslaughter could be elevated to a new higher category.
The families of the victims of Valdo Caloocan, who was found guilty of manslaughter after stabbing three people to death in Nottingham last year, are campaigning for reform.
They welcomed Friday night’s review but said they hoped the government was not trying to hide anything.
The government’s action is likely to lead to the biggest overhaul of murder laws since hanging was abolished for murder nearly 60 years ago.
Attorney-General Shabana Mahmood has announced an overhaul of murder laws that is likely to lead to the creation of a US-style “derogatory murder” crime.
The move has been welcomed by the families of those killed by Valdo Carocane, who was sentenced to an indefinite hospitalization order rather than a prison sentence.
The Law Commission previously recommended creating a “second-degree murder” level that would apply, for example, if the offender was judged to have “diminished culpability.”
A 2006 report by an expert group recommended the creation of a new category of “first-degree murder” for those who intentionally commit murder, which would still carry automatic life sentences.
The report said the new “second-degree murder” charge would apply if the offender intended to cause serious injury or could be a partial defense to a more serious crime. .
The commission said at the time that judges have discretion in imposing life sentences for low-level murder charges.
However, this proposal was later rejected by the Minister.
The then-Justice Minister Oliver Heald told MPs in 2016: “The public rightly considers murder to be the most serious and abhorrent crime, and I have concerns about creating a category of “murder.” “There is,” he said.
The new review is expected to take at least a year and will require legislation and subsequent guidance to judges from the Sentencing Council.
That means change is years away.
A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: “This review assumes that there will still be a mandatory life sentence for murder (and the most serious murder where a staged structure of murder is recommended).” .
This means Labor faces accusations of watering down guarantees given to British citizens following the abolition of the death penalty in 1965.
The Murder (Abolition of the Death Penalty) Act, passed in the same year, stipulated that “no person shall be sentenced to death for murder, but a person convicted of murder… shall be sentenced to life imprisonment.”
In other measures announced by the government, killers who strangle their victims or kill them at the end of a relationship will face harsher penalties. ”
HMP Barlinnie in Glasgow. The Law Commission previously recommended creating a “second-degree murder” level that would apply if the offender was found to have “diminished culpability.”
Both circumstances are treated as aggravating factors, allowing for longer sentences.
“We are cracking down on violence against women and creating safer streets,” Mahmoud said.
“While we are fully aware of the concerns raised about murder laws and sentencing, these are incredibly complex issues and the adjustments made in the past have led to the current disparities, so the Law Commission It is right that we consider this comprehensively.”
The current sentencing framework for murder in England and Wales was last reformed in 2003, and officials said “incremental” changes since then had led to the discrepancy.
For example, a murderer who commits a murder with a knife intentionally brought to the scene of the crime will be sentenced to 25 years in prison, while a murderer who uses a knife that was already at the scene of the crime will be sentenced to 15 years in prison. .
This means that knife murder committed in a domestic setting carries a lighter sentence than a similar crime committed in a public place.
