Life imprisonment : reflections following the landmark judgement “Ben Hassine Ben Ali Wahid vs. Prime Minister et”

Abstract

Life sentence imprisonment is the harshest penalty in Malta since the abolishment of the death penalty. The scope was to provide a less permanent, yet still severe, option to punish the most atrocious crimes. However, the scarcity of possibilities for release of prisoners serving lifetime imprisonment, does not really eradicate the permanent nature of the death penalty.

This has been established in the landmark judgement of “Ben Hassine Ben Ali Wahid vs. Prime Minister et” where the Maltese Constitutional Court concluded that the lack of hope for prisoners to ever be released again is unconstitutional as per Article 36 and also a deprivation of human rights under Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights. Even though prisoners have the possibility of applying for Presidential Pardon and for Prison Leave, the lack of possibility for Parole and Remission are considered to be of great detriment for the prisoner’s Right to Rehabilitation.

Through an evaluation of different legal frameworks, including those of the United Kingdom, Italy and Germany, this term paper seeks to analyse the international approach towards life imprisonment. Recently, a bill has been proposed in Parliament to amend the Restorative Justice Act. Bill 199 of 2017 seeks to introduce the possibility of Parole for prisoners serving life. This amendment, if enacted, would be an important achievement for penological legislation since it would radically change the perception of lifetime imprisonment in Malta. Although still with some limitations, this amendment would allow the Courts to judge on a case-by-case basis on the grounds of rehabilitation, therefore showing respect towards the human dignity of the person. Until now, the situation is still very fluid and no concrete changes have been made through legislative amendments. Nonetheless, the Maltese Courts seem to have accepted this view and welcome this change.