§ Lady HermonTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the minimum sentence for the murder of(a) a prison officer and (b) a police officer on duty in Northern Ireland is; and if he will make a statement on the relevant provisions of the Criminal Justice Act 2003. [147574]
§ Mr. SpellarThe mandatory sentence for murder is life imprisonment. Under the provisions of the Life Sentences (Northern Ireland) Order 2001, the determination of the appropriate minimum period or tariff, which any life sentence prisoner in Northern Ireland must serve in custody before consideration can be given to release, is a matter for judicial discretion. The sentencing judge can set a tariff for a fixed period of years or determine that a whole life tariff would he more appropriate in individual cases.
The Criminal Justice Act 2003 introduced in England and Wales a new statutory framework providing for four different starting-points for the judicial determination of minimum terms in mandatory life sentence cases. That framework provides for an initial starting point of 30 years for a person convicted of the murder of a police or prison officer in the course of their duty in England and Wales. Those statutory starting-points may be adjusted upwards or downwards by the sentencing judge, having regard to any relevant 994W aggravating or mitigating factors in the case, to arrive at the minimum term which must be served by the prisoner. On 8 January, I published a consultation paper seeking views on the appropriateness of adopting a similar framework for mandatory life sentences in Northern Ireland. The consultation period extends to 31 March, after which responses will be carefully evaluated and the outcome of the consultation published.