Retention of the mandatory life sentence for murder.

Murder can only be described as the most harmful and offensive of all crimes. It seemed for centuries both "just" and "fair" to punish murderers with the retributive sentence to death. However throughout the years the penalty of death has proven "unpopular" and "not necessary". Until the Homicide Act 1957 all persons convicted of murder were automatically sentenced to death. By s5 of that Act, certain types of murder were singled out and designated "capital murder". …

…should be able to expect that the most serious murderers should remain in prison for whole life, instilling not only the retributive and deterrent factors, but also the public protection element, whilst providing the possibility for the rehabilitation influence for the criminals. It is a job for all to produce a formula by which everybody can identify and respect the basic functions leading to a logically, jurisprudentially and constitutionally competent Criminal Justice system for all.