The Lord Chief Justice had expressed his view as to the proper determinitive part of the defendant’s life sentence, but the Home Secretary had declined to give effect to it.
Held: In the few remaining cases transitional between the former and newer systems for setting the sentence to be served by life prisoners, the Home Secretary had a duty to abide by the expressed view of the Lord Chief Justice. Here, evidence had become available after the trial which might well have persuaded the judge at trial to have recommended a shorter determinative part of the sentence. The Home Secretary exercising his current power was under a duty to do what the judge should have done. The Home Secretary had given no reason for not following the advice.
Citations:
[2004] EWCA Civ 33, Times 13-Feb-2004, Gazette 04-Mar-2004
Links:
Statutes:
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Criminal Sentencing
Updated: 09 June 2022; Ref: scu.192684
