Life imprisonment is any sentence of imprisonment for a crime under which convicted people are to remain in prison for the rest of their natural lives or indefinitely until pardoned, paroled, or otherwise commuted to a fixed term. Crimes for which, in some countries, a person could receive this sentence include murder, torture, terrorism, child abuse resulting in death, rape, espionage, treason, drug trafficking, drug possession, human trafficking, severe fraud and financial crimes, aggravated criminal damage, arson, kidnapping, burglary, and robbery, piracy, aircraft hijacking, and genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes or any three felonies in case of three-strikes law. Life imprisonment can also be imposed, in certain countries, for traffic offences causing death. Life imprisonment is not used in all countries; Portugal was the first country to abolish life imprisonment, in 1884.
A habitual offender, repeat offender, or career criminal, is a person convicted of a crime who was previously convicted of crimes. Various state and jurisdictions may have laws targeting habitual offenders, and specifically providing for enhanced or exemplary punishments or other sanctions. They are designed to counter criminal recidivism by physical incapacitation via imprisonment.
Preventive detention is an imprisonment that is putatively justified for non-punitive purposes, most often to prevent (further) criminal acts.
In England and Wales, life imprisonment is a sentence that lasts until the death of the prisoner, although in most cases the prisoner will be eligible for early release after a minimum term set by the judge. In exceptional cases, however, a judge may impose a "whole life order", meaning that the offender is never considered for parole, although they may still be released on compassionate grounds at the discretion of the Home Secretary. Whole life orders are usually imposed for aggravated murder, and can only be imposed where the offender was at least 21 years old at the time of the offence being committed.
The penal system in China is mostly composed of an administrative detention system and a judicial incarceration system. As of 2020, it is estimated that 1.7 million people had been incarcerated in China, which is the second-highest prison population after the United States (USA). The country's per-capita incarceration rate is 121 per 100,000 of the national population. China also retained the use of death penalty with the approval of the Supreme People's Court, and there is a system of death penalty with reprieve in which the sentence is suspended unless the convict commits another major crime within two years while he or she is detained. Discussions have been held in which some people have urged the government to increase its use of community correction, and they have also urged the Ministry of Justice to oversee administrative detainees as a way to prevent the police from acquiring too much power.
In the United States, life imprisonment is amongst the most severe punishments provided by law, depending on the state, and second only to the death penalty. According to a 2013 study, 1 of every 20,000 inhabitants of the U.S. were imprisoned for life as of 2012. Many U.S. states can release a convict on parole after a decade or more has passed, but in California, people sentenced to life imprisonment can normally apply for parole after seven years. The laws in the United States categorize life sentences as "determinate life sentences" or "indeterminate life sentences," the latter indicating the possibility of an abridged sentence, usually through the process of parole. For example, sentences of "15 years to life," "25 years to life," or "life with mercy" are called "indeterminate life sentences", while a sentence of "life without the possibility of parole" or "life without mercy" is called a "determinate life sentence". The potential for parole is not assured but discretionary, making it an indeterminate sentence. Even if a sentence explicitly denies the possibility of parole, government officials may have the power to grant an amnesty to reprieve, or to commute a sentence to time served.
Indefinite imprisonment or indeterminate imprisonment is the imposition of a sentence by imprisonment with no definite period of time set during sentencing. It was imposed by certain nations in the past, before the drafting of the United Nations Convention against Torture (CAT). The length of an indefinite imprisonment was determined during imprisonment based on the inmate's conduct. The inmate could have been returned to society or be kept in prison for life.
Life imprisonment in Sweden is a term of imprisonment for an indeterminate length. Swedish law states that the most severe punishment is "prison for 10 years or life." However, a prisoner may apply to the government for clemency, commuting the life sentence to a set number of years, after which standard Swedish parole regulations apply. Due to new legislation taking effect in January 2022, offenders committing murder at the age of 18 can now be sentenced to life imprisonment. Previously, only those over the age of 21 on the day the crime was committed could be sentenced to life imprisonment.
Life imprisonment in Canada is a criminal sentence for certain offences that lasts for the offender’s life. Parole is possible, but even if paroled, the offender remains under the supervision of Corrections Canada for their lifetime, and can be returned to prison for parole violations.
In Finland, life imprisonment is the maximum criminal penalty. In actual practice, life imprisonment rarely lasts for the remainder of a convict's life; it currently consists of imprisonment in closed prison and possible periods of imprisonment in a halfway house, supervised parole and full parole. The death penalty was abolished in Finland in 1949 for peacetime offences and for all offences in 1972.
In France, life imprisonment is a punishment of indeterminate length and may last for the remainder of the convict's life. The sentence is the most severe punishment given under French law and it can be imposed by the courts for aggravated murder, treason, terrorism, drug kingpin and other serious felonies resulting in death or involving torture. There is an average of 25 sentences of life imprisonment per year and there are 550 inmates currently jailed for life. Life sentences for crimes other than aggravated murder are rare.
Life imprisonment in the Republic of Ireland may last for the natural life of the convict. It is not necessarily "life imprisonment" in practice, as not all of the life sentence is generally served in prison custody. The granting of temporary or early release of life sentenced prisoners is a feature of the Irish prison system handled by the Minister for Justice.
Life imprisonment has been the most severe criminal sentence in New Zealand since the death penalty was abolished in 1989, having not been used since 1957.
Life imprisonment in Poland has an indeterminate length. It can be imposed for treason, the assassination of the Polish president, war of aggression, genocide, crimes against humanity, unlawful use of a weapon of mass destruction, war crimes, murder, homicide and serious bodily harm resulting in death.
Under Dutch law, moord (murder) is the intentional and premeditated killing of another person. Murder is punishable by a maximum sentence of life imprisonment, which is the longest prison sentence the law will allow for. Unlike in most other European countries, there is no possibility for parole for those sentenced to life in the Netherlands. It is one of the few countries in Europe where life imprisonment actually lasts for the remainder of the life of the convicted person, unless the sentence is commuted or pardoned by the Sovereign of the Netherlands. However, this rarely happens and few appeals to the King for clemency have ever been successful.
The Portuguese Penal Code was adopted in 1982 and has been revised on several occasions, most recently in 2007. It devotes a whole chapter on "crimes against human life". In fact, the very first crime addressed on that code is murder.
Life imprisonment in Turkey is a legal form of punishment and the most severe form of punishment. In most cases life imprisonment replaced capital punishment. Law 4771 of 3 August 2002 abolished the death penalty for peace time and replaced capital punishment with life imprisonment for 17 provisions of the Turkish Penal Code. Law 5218 of 14 July 2004 abolished the death penalty completely. This law provided that in some 40 provisions of the Turkish Penal Code and other laws such as the Law on Forests the death penalty was replaced by aggravated life imprisonment.
An Order for Lifelong Restriction is a sentence that can be imposed by a judge of the High Court of Justiciary on serious violent and sexual offenders in Scotland. Such an Order is an indeterminate sentence will see the convict subject to indefinite imprisonment and supervision by electronic monitoring for the rest of their lives. An offender will only be released on licence where it is determined that the risks posed to the community can be correctly and safely managed.
The New Zealand Parole Board is an independent statutory body established in 2002 that considers offenders for parole. Its task "is to undertake an assessment of the risk that long-term sentenced offenders might pose to the safety of the community if they were to be released before the end of their sentence". The Board also sets conditions of release for offenders so their reintegration back in to the community can be effectively managed. Once the conditions are set it becomes the responsibility of Community Corrections to manage the offender." 'Long term' is defined as more than 24 months. Short-term prisoners are automatically released after serving half their sentence.
