With a new Labour Government and a batch of fresh Ministers now in place, three IPP campaigners, Roddy Russell, Marc Conway and Andrew Morris have today hand-delivered an open letter to the Ministry of Justice which contains a list of IPP demands for the Government to undertake within the first 100 days of Parliament.
We have published the open-letter in full below and will report on its content and intentions in our next episode.
📸 Roddy, Andrew and Marc
Many of the letter’s 70 signatories have contributed to Trapped over the past year, and we have featured Roddy, Marc and Andrew’s stories in previous episodes, the links for which can be found below;
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Roddy and Robert - "A Catch 22"
Andrew and Marc - "Walking on Eggshells"
Please find the content of the letter and the full list of signatories below, and check out our previous episodes of Trapped via this link;
Trapped: The IPP Prisoner Scandal
Listen on #Acast #ApplePodcasts #Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
Thursday, 11 July, 2024
RE: Joint letter to the Secretary of State for Justice on reform of the Imprisonment for Public Protection Sentence
Dear Secretary of State,
Congratulations on your appointment, which comes at a critical point for prisons and the wider justice system.
This joint letter has been endorsed by a broad coalition of experts, civil society and community organisations, leading activists and campaigners, opposed to the cruel, inhumane and degrading Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) sentences, which have so far claimed the lives of 90 people serving IPP sentences in prison and a further 31 people that we know of in the community.
As leaders of criminal justice charities, trade unions, lawyers and campaigners, we wish to express our serious concerns about the ongoing scandal of IPP sentences and the intolerable position in which successive governments have placed prison and probation staff who manage those still serving these sentences, both in custody and in the community.
Working at pace to resolve the IPP scandal is the right thing to do. It would also make a tangible, politically palatable, contribution to addressing the urgent population pressures facing the prison system.
Given the urgency of the situation, we ask that the incoming Government undertakes to do the following, within the first 100 days of the new Parliament:
Bring all the IPP-related provisions in the Victims and Prisoners Act 2024 into force.
Publish the first annual report on IPP, which was due to be published by the end of March 2024.
Make a ministerial statement to Parliament, setting out the new Government’s plans and timetable to address all the outstanding challenges affecting those under an IPP sentence.
Commit to set up an expert committee, in line with the recommendation of the former Justice Select Committee, to advise on the practicalities of a resentencing exercise, with the aim of beginning the exercise within 18 months.
IPP sentences were rightly abolished over a decade ago, on the grounds that they were unfair, unworkable and unjust in practice. Despite this, close to 2,800 people are still serving these sentences in prison, with more than 200 others held in secure hospitals. Even more are living in the community under constant fear of recall for minor infractions, or even for mere accusations of wrongdoing. Most people serving IPP sentences and their families have lost all trust in the justice system.
This hopelessness has had a devastating impact on the mental health of people serving IPP sentences, both in prison and in the community, as can be seen by the three Prevention of Future Deaths Reports issued by coroners on suicides published in 2024. It is shocking, but not surprising, that coroners are now highlighting IPP sentences as a matter of concern relating to these suicides. One described the “inhumane and indefensible” treatment of someone serving an IPP sentence 15 years over tariff, and warned that “if action is not taken to review all prisoners sentenced to IPP then there is a risk of further deaths occurring”. Another coroner stated: “The jury was clear that the fact of the IPP caused his state of mind and so caused his death.” In June, news came that one person serving an IPP sentence, who was 12 years over tariff, had set himself alight. Another had begun his second hunger strike. The impact on the health and well-being of prison and probation staff looking after those subjected to IPP sentences is also profound.
The most obvious practical way to resolve the IPP scandal is through a resentencing exercise, overseen by a panel of experts. Indeed, in its September 2022 report, the House of Commons Justice Select Committee stated that resentencing is the “only way to address the unique injustice caused by the IPP sentence and its subsequent administration”.
IPP sentences are a problem created by Parliament, which can only be solved by Parliament, including through new legislation. We urge the new Government to honour its commitment, made in opposition, to “work at pace” to resolve this injustice.
We also agree with the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, Dr Alice Jill Edwards, that IPP sentences are human right violations that often amount to psychological torture. If this injustice is not resolved decisively, we could see the Government challenged in court for their failure to act appropriately.
Thank you for your attention to this matter.
Yours faithfully,
UNGRIPP
Shirley Debono
IPP Committee in Action
Andrea Coomber KC
Chief Executive, The Howard League for Penal Reform
Richard Garside
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Roddy Russell
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Andrew Morris
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Marc Conway
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Helen Schofield
Chief Executive, Probation Institute
Deborah Coles
Executive Director, Inquest
Tom Southerden
Law & Human Rights Programme Director, Amnesty International
Henry Rossi
Founder, The Institute of Now
Jon Robbins
Editor, The Justice Gap
Sarah Lewis
Director, Penal Reform Solutions
Gloria Morrison
JENGbA
Tyrone Steele
Deputy Legal Director, Justice
Andy Keen-Downs
Chief Executive, Pact
Lubia Begum-Rob
Director, Prisoners’ Advice Service
Emma Torr
Co-Director, APPEAL
Matt Foot
Co-Director, APPEAL
Pavan Dhaliwal
Chief Executive, Revolving Doors
Peter Stefanovic
Chief Executive, Campaign for Social Justice
Cat Diales
Reform and Rebuild
Phil Bowen
Director, Centre for Justice Innovation
Annette So
Director, Criminal Justice Alliance
Russell Webster
Independent researcher and consultant
Campbell Robb
Chief Executive, Nacro
Melanie Jameson
Clerk, Quakers in Criminal Justice
Gavin Dingwall
Head of Policy and Communications, The Sentencing Academy
Penelope Gibbs
Director, Transform Justice
Dr Hannah Quirk
Reader in Criminal Law, King's College London
Professor Harry Annison
Professor in Criminal Justice, Southampton Law School
Professor Nicola Padfield
Emeritus Professor of Criminal and Penal Justice, University of Cambridge
Naima Sakande
Research Consultant
Tabitha Nice
Professional mediator
Susie Labinoj
Head of Civil Liberties and Human Rights, Hodge Jones & Allen
Andrew Sperling
Managing Director and Solicitor-Advocate, SL5 Legal
Wayne Jordash KC
Doughty Street Chambers and President, Global Rights Compliance
Edward Fitzgerald KC
Doughty Street Chambers
Tim Owen KC
Matrix Chambers
Phillippa Kaufmann KC
Matrix Chambers
Hugh Southey KC
Matrix Chambers
Nick Armstrong KC
Matrix Chambers
Jude Bunting KC
Doughty Street Chambers
Katy Thorne KC
Doughty Street Chambers
Farrhat Arshad KC
Doughty Street Chambers
Patrick O'Connor KC
Doughty Street Chambers
Adam Straw KC
Doughty Street Chambers
Jamie Burton KC
Doughty Street Chambers
Paul Harris SC
Doughty Street Chambers
Ayesha Christie
Matrix Chambers
Rosalind Comyn
Matrix Chambers
Lauren Bardoe
Matrix Chambers
Raj Desai
Matrix Chambers
Quincy Whittaker
Doughty Street Chambers
Amos Waldman
Doughty Street Chambers
Ruby Peaco*ck
Doughty Street Chambers
Hayley Douglas
Doughty Street Chambers
Nick Brown
Doughty Street Chambers
James Robottom
Matrix Chambers
Stuart Withers
No5 Chambers
Michael Bimmler
No5 Chambers
Kaswar Zaman
No5 Chambers
Dean Kingham
Parole Board lead, Association of Prison Lawyers
Hamid Sabi
Sabi & Associates
Chris Minnoch
Chief Executive Officer, LAPG (Legal Aid Practitioners Group)
Lorna Hackett
Hackett & Dabbs LLP
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