... cost to the public purse, of putting some one in prison. In these terms, life sentencing can be a balancing act: although a life tariff (whether that means 'whole life' or the more usual 15-20 years) must balance two potentially conflicting public interests: the necessity of protecting the community and rehabilitating the offender must be set against the long term cost of imprisonment. The other problems the judges face when dealing with life sentencing issues are related to public perceptions. With sentencing being a central and highly acknowledged aspect of the criminal justice system, the Judiciary often bears the brunt of public criticism for being seen to either sentence to harshly, or, more often, for sentencing too leniently. In each case a decision has to be made regardless of the media coverage. Additionally, it should be noted there are different types of standard life sentence, even before we consider whether ...

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