43.On 16 December 1999, the European Court of Human Rights announced its conclusions in the cases of T v. UK and V v. UK - proceedings brought by Robert Thompson and Jon Venables who had been convicted in 1993 of having, at the age of 10, murdered James Bulger. Amongst other things, the Court concluded that it was not compatible with Article 6 of the Convention for the Home Secretary to set tariffs in cases of detention during Her Majesty’s pleasure. This sentence must be passed where an offender is convicted of having committed murder under the age of 18. The tariff represents the minimum period that must be served by a life sentence prisoner before they can be considered for release.
44.In response to this finding by the Court, Section 60 makes provision for the sentencing court to set the tariff in these cases in the future.
Background and Summary Life sentences: tariffs: Section 60