Life Imprisonment Worldwide
This research project, supported by the HRLC, brings together an interdisciplinary team to examine life imprisonment on a global scale.
Emeritus Professor Dirk van Zyl Smit and Zinat Jimada at the School of Law, in partnership with Dr Catherine Appleton at the Centre for Research and Education in Security, Prisons and Forensic Psychiatry, St Olavs University Hospital and the Department of Mental Health, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, are revising and updating the global study on life imprisonment, first published in 2019. They are working together with a global community of scholars and practitioners in law, criminal justice and penology to collate information on life imprisonment around the world.
Since 2014, the team has studied the imposition and implementation of life imprisonment in order to be able to understand the different types of life sentences, how many persons are sentenced to life imprisonment, which crimes attract life sentences, how such sentences are implemented, and the conditions under which prisoners serve them. They have assessed critically the practice of life imprisonment in the light of human rights principles and standards developed by international human rights bodies and national courts.
The project aims to:
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revise, update and develop survey data from the original research study to capture significant changes in the field of life imprisonment worldwide since 2014
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provide new, timely and accessible knowledge about the penalty of life imprisonment across different jurisdictions
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work together with Penal Reform International and the United Nations to change law, policy and practice on life imprisonment at the international level
Project Outputs
One of the aims of this project has been to provide clear and principled guidance to policy makers and practitioners on when and how life imprisonment, if it is used as a punishment at all, should be imposed and implemented.
Books
The project has resulted in three major books on life imprisonment:
- Dirk van Zyl Smit, Catherine Appleton and Giao Vucong (eds) (2023), Life Imprisonment in Asia, Singapore: Palgrave Macmillan.
- Dirk van Zyl Smit and Catherine Appleton (2019), Life Imprisonment: A Global Human Rights Analysis, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
- Dirk van Zyl Smit and Catherine Appleton (eds) (2016), Life Imprisonment and Human Rights, Oxford: Hart/Bloomsbury Publishing.
Explore our books here.
Policy Briefings
The substantive research conducted by the Life Imprisonment Worldwide Project is complemented by a campaign to increase its impact. This has resulted in two policy briefings, co-produced with Penal Reform International.
Explore our policy briefings in detail here.
People
Saori Toda, PhD Candidate, Hitostubashi University
Saori is a PhD student at Hitostubashi University, Japan, and a research fellow with the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science. In 2022-2023, she completed a visiting scholar programme at the University of Nottingham, supervised by Emeritus Professor Dirk van Zyl Smit. Her doctoral research focuses on release decision-making for life-sentenced prisoners in Japan, drawing insights from the release system in England and Wales and the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights.
During the visiting year in Nottingham, Saori investigated the impact of public concerns on release decision processes for life-sentenced prisoners in English and Wales and in Japan. Her research included an observational study of public parole hearings in England and Wales.
Publications
- Penal Reform International, Jimada Zinat, Dirk van Zyl Smit and Catherine Appleton (2024) Informal Life Imprisonment: A Policy Briefing on this Harsh, Hidden Sentence, London: Penal Reform International.
- Dirk van Zyl Smit and Christopher Seeds (2023), “Extradition and Whole Life Sentences” Criminal Law Forum (online).
- Dirk van Zyl Smit, Catherine Appleton and Giao Vucong (eds) (2023), Life Imprisonment in Asia, Singapore: Palgrave Macmillan.
- Dirk van Zyl Smit and Katrina Morrison (2020), “The Paradox of Scottish Life Imprisonment” 28 European Journal of Crime, Criminal Law and Criminal Justice 76-101.
Explore a full list of publications here.
News
On 23 February 2023, Dr Appleton and Emeritus Professor van Zyl Smit were invited by the Council of Europe to assist in the organisation of, and participate in, a workshop for judges, prosecutors, defence lawyers and correctional service staff in Moldova. The workshop was held under the auspices of the Council of Europe Project 'Strengthening the Human Rights Compliant Criminal Justice System in the Republic of Moldova'. The aim of the workshop was to have a human rights informed debate about the current life sentence system in Moldova.
On 6 July 2021, Dr Appleton and Emeritus Professor van Zyl Smit were interviewed by the Economist about their research. They explain why and how the recourse to life sentences is increasing worldwide, why scepticism about life sentences is spreading, and how campaigners use the courts to curb life sentences. They also question whether life sentences are excessively harsh or not.
Awards
Events