House of Lords written question – answered at on 9 December 2011.
Lord Lloyd of Berwick
Chair, Ecclesiastical Committee, Chair, Ecclesiastical Committee
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have replied to the eight questions set out by the European Court of Human Rights in a Statement of Facts issued in February 2011 in the case of Vinter, Bamber and Moore, reported at 2011 European Court of Human Rights 324; and, if so, what was their response.
Lord McNally
Deputy Leader of the House of Lords, The Minister of State, Ministry of Justice, Liberal Democrat Leader in the House of Lords
The Government have submitted their observations in respect of the applications made by the three applicants. In brief, we argue that the imposition of a discretionary whole life order for the purposes of punishment and deterrence does not in itself amount to a violation of Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights at the point of sentence. Also, a whole life order, when taken with the Secretary of State's discretion under Section 30 of the Crime (Sentences) Act 1997, is not an irreducible life sentence and, in practice, reducibility does not require the possibility of conditional release. In addition, once an appropriate sentence for the purpose of punishment and deterrence has been lawfully determined and imposed by the court-whether that sentence is determinate or a whole life order-it is unnecessary for the sentence to be subjected to continual review. Further, there has been no violation of Article 7 in respect of Bamber and Moore as neither applicant received a penalty which was (a) heavier than that which was applicable at the time they committed their offences or (b) heavier than that which was in fact imposed prior to the High Court's review. I will write to the noble and learned Lord with further details.
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The house of Lords is the upper chamber of the Houses of Parliament. It is filled with Lords (I.E. Lords, Dukes, Baron/esses, Earls, Marquis/esses, Viscounts, Count/esses, etc.) The Lords consider proposals from the EU or from the commons. They can then reject a bill, accept it, or make amendments. If a bill is rejected, the commons can send it back to the lords for re-discussion. The Lords cannot stop a bill for longer than one parliamentary session. If a bill is accepted, it is forwarded to the Queen, who will then sign it and make it law. If a bill is amended, the amended bill is sent back to the House of Commons for discussion.
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Also referred to as the ECHR, the European Court of Human Rights was instituted as a place to hear Human Rights complaints from Council of Europe Member States; it consists of a number of judges equal to the number of Council of Europe seats (which currently stands at 45 at the time of writing), divided into four geographic- and gender-balanced "Sections" eac of which selects a Chamber (consisting of a President and six rotating justices), and a 17-member Grand Chamber consisting of a President, Vice-Presidents, and all Section Presidents, as well as a rotating selection of other justices from one of two balanced groups.
Secretary of State was originally the title given to the two officials who conducted the Royal Correspondence under Elizabeth I. Now it is the title held by some of the more important Government Ministers, for example the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.
