UN Special Rapporteur on Torture Alice Jill Edwards told The Guardian on Friday the UK Ministry of Justice’s reforms that would release many people subject to indefinite Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) are “welcome but they do not go far enough.”

Edwards said many people will not be able to benefit from the reforms as they do not bring important changes and overlook “the cases of nearly 1,250 prisoners who remain detained indefinitely, languishing in jail under a sentencing scheme that the justice secretary himself describes as a ‘stain’ on the entire legal system.” Additionally, the UN expert added that “Perpetual uncertainty is wholly incompatible with the rule of law and is inhuman treatment.” She further urged members of the House of Lords to “use the opportunity in the coming weeks to amend the Victims and Prisons bill to include a full resentencing exercise for all IPP prisoners who remain in jail”.

The UK government introduced its indefinite IPP reforms in November 2023 under the Victims and Prisoners Bill to grant ex-prisoners serving “long-since abolished indefinite sentences” the right to end their licence period earlier. IPP offenders serving their sentence in the community will therefore be able to be referred for review 3 years after their first release. IPP was introduced in 2005 and was aimed to “prevent offenders who were considered dangerous from being released even though the offence did not merit a life sentence.”

Edwards wrote to the government in August 2023 urging it to review indefinite sentences, to which it responded in December 2023 by affirming its position “to support all those continuing to serve the IPP sentence in prison by providing them with the opportunity to show they can be safely released by the Parole Board.”