A Vinter retreat in Europe
| Author | Mark Pettigrew |
| DOI | 10.1177/2032284417711579 |
| Published date | 01 June 2017 |
| Date | 01 June 2017 |
| Subject Matter | Opinions |
Opinion
A Vinter retreat in Europe:
Returning to the issue of whole
life sentences in Strasbourg
Mark Pettigrew
Leeds Beckett University, UK
Abstract
In Vinterand Others v. United Kingdom,the Grand Chamber ofthe European Court of HumanRights held
that domestic procedures for reviewing whole life prison sentences in England and Wales were in
breachof Article 3 of the European Conventionon Human Rights.In response, the domesticCourt of
Appeal declinedto revise those procedures,or the material relating to them, andheld that the Grand
Chamber wasincorrect in its finding; the lawdid in fact give prisoners hopefor future release. Rather
than reasserting thereasoning and findings of Vinter, the Grand Chamber has been appeasedby the
clarificationoffered by the UKcourt. The contradictionsin that retreat from theVinter judgement are
analysed here and thefuture standing of the court is prophesized in relation to thatdecision.
Keywords
Whole life sentencing, European Court of Human Rights, Hutchinson v. the United Kingdom,Vinter
and others v. United Kingdom
Introduction
...the extraordinary attachment of the English to their system of law (if indeed it can be called a
system), the positive affection it inspires, the awe inspiring confidence, often unwarranted, which they
repose in its ability to do justice, the tenacity, indeed ferocity with which they refuse to modify it with
foreign importations is one of the most important national characteristics
1
(Johnson 2010 cited in Grieve 2014)
Corresponding author:
Mark Pettigrew, Senior Lecturer, Leeds Beckett University, Leeds, UK.
Email: m.pettigrew@leedsbeckett.ac.uk
1. D. Grieve, Rt Hon, ‘Why it Matters that the Conservatives should Support the European Convention on Human Rights’.
UCL Judicial Institute Lecture, 3 December 2014. Available at https://www.ucl.ac.uk/laws/judicial-institute/files/
Dominic_Grieve_s_Speech.pdf (accessed 21 February 2017).
New Journal of European Criminal Law
2017, Vol. 8(2) 128–138
ªThe Author(s) 2017
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DOI: 10.1177/2032284417711579
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