Newly-elected UK Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, and Justice Secretary, Shabana Mahmood, have been asked to consider urgent reform of the ‘ongoing scandal’ of Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) sentences in an open letter published on the 11th of July.
Since the abolishment of Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) sentences in 2012, approximately 2,800 people have been left incarcerated. IPP sentences were a form of ‘indefinite’ detention introduced in 2005 to appear tough on crime.
The letter emphasises that ‘IPP sentences are a problem created by Parliament, which can only be solved by Parliament, including through new legislation.’
Reported examples of IPP sentences for minor offences include 15 years in prison for smashing a flowerpot and ripping up betting slips. Another IPP prisoner has remained in prison for 12 years after stealing and returning a mobile phone in 2012 .
The letter, reportedly signed by 70 civil justice organizations and experts, calls for the government to take action and to consider various measures such as committing to setting up an expert committee on IPP sentences to advise on resentencing in 18 months.
The letter also calls for enacting the IPP provisions in the Victims and Prisoners Act 2024 including reducing the automatic termination period for IPPs on licence which would immediately enable 1,800 people to have their licences terminated.
The letter highlights the impact that IPP sentences are having on mental health. Fear of being recalled has led to the suicide of at least 31 people in the community since 2019. Since 2005, there have also been 90 IPP prisoners who have taken their own lives in prison. It describes it as ‘shocking, but not surprising’ that three separate coroners have highlighted the potential contribution of IPP sentences to suicides.
The letter also agrees with Dr Alice Edwards, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment, in her finding that IPP sentences violate human rights and ‘often amount to psychological torture.’ Just earlier this year, the Justice Gap reported on the ‘desperate action’ being taken by IPP prisoners, which a brutal hunger strike and another who had set himself on fire.
In the face of the prison overcrowding crisis, which the Justice Gap has reported is expected to force the new government to announce an early release scheme for prisoners, campaigners highlight that resentencing for nearly 3,000 people on IPPs could reduce overcrowding in prisons by a third.
The letter’s call to action ‘would also make a tangible, politically palatable, contribution to addressing the urgent population pressures facing the prison system.’
