TY - BOOK ID - 78146390 TI - Exploring the mandatory life sentence for murder AU - Mitchell, Barry AU - Roberts, Julian V. PY - 2012 SN - 147256121X 129940314X 1782250255 9781782250258 1849462283 9781849462280 9781299403147 9781782250265 1782250263 9781472561213 PB - Oxford, United Kingdom Hart Publishing DB - UniCat KW - Life imprisonment KW - Mandatory sentences KW - Murder KW - Sentences (Criminal procedure) KW - Sentencing KW - Correctional law KW - Criminal procedure KW - Judgments, Criminal KW - Punishment KW - Criminal homicide KW - Killing (Murder) KW - Homicide KW - Determinate sentences (Criminal procedure) KW - Indeterminate sentences KW - Prison sentences KW - Public opinion. KW - Law and legislation KW - Public opinion KW - E-books KW - Life imprisonment - England KW - Life imprisonment - Wales KW - Murder - England KW - Murder - Wales KW - Mandatory sentences - England KW - Mandatory sentences - Wales KW - Sentences (Criminal procedure) - England - Public opinion KW - Sentences (Criminal procedure) - Wales - Public opinion UR - https://www.unicat.be/uniCat?func=search&query=sysid:78146390 AB - Murder is often regarded as both the 'ultimate' and a unique crime, and whereas courts are normally given discretion in sentencing offenders, for murder the sentence is mandatory - indeterminate imprisonment. Since the crime and the punishment come as a 'package deal' this book looks at both the legal nature of the offence and at the current operation of the mandatory life sentence. Not only does the book adopt a critical approach, by assessing the strengths and weaknesses of the status quo, it also draws upon comparative material from both common and civil law jurisdictions in an attempt to provide a comprehensive exploration of these issues. The need for public confidence in the criminal justice system is particularly acute in the way it deals with the most serious homicides. In this book the authors report findings from the first systematic exploration of public attitudes to sentencing murder in this or any other common law jurisdiction. The picture of public opinion emerging from this recent large-scale nationwide qualitative and quantitative survey, funded by the Nuffield Foundation, is likely to surprise many, and will be of interest to all jurisdictions where the mandatory life sentence for murder has been questioned ER -