High Court setting of minimum terms for mandatory life sentences under the Criminal Justice Act 2003
Mandatory Life Sentence Prisoners
By Schedule 22, para. 3 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 (which came into force on 18th December 2003) a person who is serving a sentence of mandatory life imprisonment or custody for life may apply to the High Court for a review of the term already notified to them by the Secretary of State as the minimum term to be served before release on licence. The High Court has no power to increase the term as notified by the Secretary of State.
A prisoner wishing to apply for the setting of the minimum term by the High Court should do so using from MTR, available from the Life Imprisonment Minimum Term Section of the High Court (address below). [link to form] The High Court will consider written representations by or on behalf of the applicant, which should be submitted within 3 months of lodging the application. Representations made must cover all the issues and specific points that the applicant wishes the Court to consider when setting the minimum term.
The High Court will consider the application without an oral hearing but will announce its decision and the reasons for it in open court.
A person serving a mandatory life sentence who has not yet been notified
of a tariff by the Home Secretary will have his/her case referred to the
High Court by the Home Secretary for a minimum term to be set - Schedule
22, para. 6 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003. The receipt of such a reference
will be notified to the prisoner by the High Court.
The administration of the applications and references is be the responsibility
of the
The Life Imprisonment Minimum Term Section
Room CL 1.5
Clifford’s Inn
Fetter Lane
LONDON EC4A 1DQ
For telephone enquiries, please contact the Life Imprisonment Minimum Term team on 020 7947 6913 or by fax on 020 7947 6893.