HL Deb 23 October 1995 vol 566 c106WA
Lord Windlesham

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether the exclusion of imprisonment for life as the penalty for murder or manslaughter in Section 53(1) of the Children and Young Persons Act 1933 means that persons sentenced to detention at Her Majesty's pleasure under the powers in this section should be treated as discretionary rather than mandatory life sentence prisoners.

Baroness Blatch

Under Section 53(1) of the Children and Young Persons Act 1933 the court is required to impose a sentence of detention during Her Majesty's pleasure on a person convicted of murder who was under 18 years of age at the time the offence was committed. This sentence is the equivalent for juveniles of the mandatory life sentence which the court is required to impose on adults convicted of murder. By virtue of Section 43(2) of the Criminal Justice Act 1991, the arrangements for determining when it is safe to release the offender are the same as those which apply in mandatory life sentence cases. The procedures for setting the tariff are also identical. Section 53(1) of the 1933 Act does not apply to persons convicted of manslaughter.