Life imprisonment

Life imprisonment (also known as a life sentence, lifelong incarceration, or life incarceration) is any sentence of imprisonment for a crime under which convicted persons are to remain in prison for the rest of their lives or until paroled. Crimes for which a person could receive this sentence include murder, attempted murder, severe child abuse, rape, espionage, high treason, drug dealing, human trafficking, severe cases of fraud, aggravated criminal damage in English law, and aggravated cases of arson, burglary, or robbery which result in death or grievous bodily harm and in certain cases genocide, crimes against humanity, or certain war crimes.

Life imprisonment can, in certain cases, also be imposed for traffic offenses causing death, as a maximum term. Some U.S. states^[1] and Canada allow judges to impose life imprisonment for such offenses.

This sentence does not exist in all countries. Portugal was the first country in the world to abolish life imprisonment by the prison reforms of Sampaio e Melo in 1884. However, where life imprisonment is a possible sentence, there may also be formal mechanisms to request parole after a certain period of imprisonment. This means that a convict could be entitled to spend the rest of the sentence (until that individual dies) outside prison. Early release is usually conditional depending on past and future conduct, possibly with certain restrictions or obligations. In contrast, when a fixed term of imprisonment has ended, the convict is free.

The length of time and the conditions surrounding parole vary greatly for each jurisdiction. In some places, convicts are entitled to apply for parole relatively early, in others, only after several decades. However, the time until being entitled to apply for parole does not necessarily tell anything about the actual date of parole being granted. Article 110 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) stipulates that for the gravest forms of crimes (such as war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide), a prisoner ought to serve two-thirds of a fixed sentence, or 35–50 years in the case of a life sentence. The highest determined prison sentence that can be imposed in the ICC, aside from life imprisonment, is 30 years (article 77, section 1a). After this period, the court will review the sentence to determine whether or not it should be reduced.

The United States has the world's largest population behind bars and leads in life sentences, at a rate of 50 people per 100,000 residents imprisoned for life.^[2] Some technically finite sentences are handed out, especially in the U.S., that exceed a century and sometimes even 1000 years, thus are seen as being de facto life sentences, since without indefinite life extension it is likely that nobody would ever be able to live long enough to serve those sentences. In the best case scenario, under United States law, a 14-year-old tried as an adult sentenced to 100 years could be released by the age of 114-years-old. While the oldest recorded person lived 122 years, it is highly unlikely that such circumstance would ever happen. Additionally, for particularly heinous crimes, courts will sometimes add additional years onto the sentence, in addition to life imprisonment, in order to ensure that no amount of good behavior could ever result in the person being set free. For example, Ariel Castro, the perpetrator who kidnapped Michelle Knight, Amanda Berry, and Gina Dejesus from the streets of Cleveland between 2002 and 2004, was sentenced to "life plus 1,000 years", in 2013, for the 937 criminal counts of kidnapping, rape, and aggravated murder stemming from those kidnappings, to which he pleaded guilty. He committed suicide in his prison cell one month later.^[3] Courts in South Africa have handed out at least two sentences that have exceeded a century (to Moses Sithole and Eugene de Kock) and were thus symbolic life sentences.

Unlike other areas of criminal law, sentences handed to minors do not differ from those given to legal adults. A few countries worldwide allow for minors to be given lifetime sentences that have no provision for eventual release. Countries that allow life imprisonment without the possibility of parole for juveniles include Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina (only juveniles between the ages of 16 and 18, as those under the age of 16 cannot be held accountable for their actions and cannot be tried),^[4] Australia, Belize, Brunei, Cuba, Dominica, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, the Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, and the United States. Of these, only the United States currently has minors serving such sentences, though even in the U.S., life sentences without parole for juveniles who are under 18 cannot be given automatically, and are only for certain cases of first-degree murder, once the judge and jury have considered mitigating and aggravating factors (the death penalty is no longer constitutional for minors in the U.S.).^[5] As of 2009, Human Rights Watch had calculated that there were 2,589 youth offenders serving life without parole in the United States.^[6][7][8]

United States

In 2011 the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that sentencing minors to life without parole, automatically (as the result of a statute) or as the result of a judicial decision, for crimes other than intentional homicide, violated the 8th Amendment's ban on "cruel and unusual punishments", in the case of Graham v. Florida.^[9]

Mugshot of Burton Phillips, sentenced to life imprisonment for bank robbery, 1935

Graham v. Florida was a significant case in juvenile justice. In Jacksonville, Florida, Terrence J. Graham tried to rob a restaurant along with three adolescent accomplices. During the robbery one of Graham's accomplices had a metal bar that he used to hit the restaurant manager twice in the head. Once arrested, Graham was charged with attempted armed robbery and armed burglary with assault/battery. The maximum sentence he faced from these charges was life without the possibility of parole, and the prosecutor wanted to charge him as an adult. During the trial, Graham pleaded guilty to the charges, resulting in three years of probation, one year of which had to be served in jail. Since he had been awaiting trial in jail, he already served six months and therefore was released after six additional months.^[10]

Within six months of his release, Graham was involved in another robbery. Since he violated the conditions of his probation, his probation officer reported to the trial court about his probation violations a few weeks before Graham turned 18 years old. It was a different judge presiding over his trial for the probation violations a year later. While Graham denied any involvement of the robbery, he did admit to fleeing from the police. The trial court found that Graham violated his probation by "committing a home invasion robbery, possessing a firearm, and associating with persons engaged in criminal activity",^[10] and sentenced him to 15 years for the attempted armed robbery plus life imprisonment for the armed burglary. The life sentence Graham received meant he had a life sentence without the possibility of parole, "because Florida abolished their parole system in 2003".^[10]

Graham's case was presented to the United States Supreme Court, with the question of whether juveniles should receive life without the possibility of parole in non-homicide cases. The Justices eventually ruled that such a sentence violated the juvenile's 8th Amendment rights, protecting them from punishments that are disproportionate to the crime committed,^[10] resulting in the abolition of life sentences without the possibility of parole in non-homicide cases for juveniles.

The Supreme Court considered, in the spring of 2012, the question of whether or not minors should be sentenced, at least automatically, to life without parole for any crime at all, including the only cases in which such a punishment was at that time an option: first-degree murder with aggravating factors (felony murder, where life without parole was then given as an option to juveniles, and where an adult in the same context could be charged with capital murder and given life or the death penalty).^[11] On 25 June 2012, according to the Catholic News Service (CNS) news brief posted that day,^[12] the Court ruled on the case of Miller v. Alabama in a 5–4 decision and with the majority opinion written by Associate Justice Elena Kagan that life in prison without parole as an automatic sentence would be considered unconstitutional in all cases in the United States. The majority opinion stated that the judge should take into account mitigating factors and other information that is usually of relevance during the sentencing phase. Such factors would include, but are not limited to: information on the nature of the crime and the victim(s), age, record, potential for rehabilitation and contribution to society, wishes of the prosecution, defense, and the victim's family, maturity level, degree of malice and forethought and degree of participation, aggravating circumstances or accompanying crimes, family environment and related circumstances such as a history of mistreatment, literacy and educational level, psychosocial and neurological development, and many others. Their reasoning was that such a sentence violated the Eighth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution's ban on cruel and unusual punishment. The decision was announced on the penultimate day of the 2011–12 Supreme Court term. For now, a sentence of life in prison without parole could still be handed down for aggravated first-degree murder if it was determined, after those relevant considerations, to be warranted.

World view

Life imprisonment laws around the world:

  Life imprisonment sentence is used

  Life imprisonment may be imposed only on men

  Life imprisonment laws have been abolished

  Life imprisonment status unknown, presumed legal

Reform or abolition

In a number of countries, life imprisonment has been effectively abolished. Many of the countries whose governments have abolished both life imprisonment and indefinite imprisonment have been culturally influenced or colonized by Spain or Portugal, and have written such prohibitions into their current constitutional laws.

A number of European countries have abolished all forms of indefinite imprisonment, including Serbia, Croatia, and Spain, which set the maximum sentence at 40 years, Bosnia and Herzegovina, which sets the maximum sentence at 45 years, and also Portugal, which sets the maximum sentence at 25 years, while Norway has abolished life imprisonment but retains other forms of indefinite imprisonment.

In Europe, the only countries in which the law expressly provides for life sentences without the possibility of parole are the United Kingdom (England and Wales only) and the Netherlands.

In South and Central America, Honduras, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Venezuela, Colombia, Uruguay, Bolivia, Ecuador, and the Dominican Republic have all abolished life imprisonment. The maximum sentence is 75 years in El Salvador, 60 years in Colombia, 50 years in Costa Rica and Panama, 40 years in Honduras, 35 years in Ecuador, 30 years in Nicaragua, Bolivia, Uruguay, and Venezuela, and 25 years in Paraguay. Brazil has a maximum sentence of 30 years under statutory law, but capital punishment and life imprisonment during wartime (for military crimes such as treason, desertion, and mutiny) are allowed in the Constitution.

In the United States, a 2009 report by the Sentencing Project suggested that life imprisonment without parole should be abolished, a suggestion that was met with opposition from law enforcement officials.^[13]

Overview by jurisdiction

Summary by country

Jurisdiction (link to details)	Life imprisonment	Minimum to serve before eligibility for requesting parole	Maximum length of sentence (under life)	Indefinite sentence (excl. preventive or psychiatric detainment)	Mandatory sentence	Possible other sentence	Under age of 18 (or 21)	Pardon, amnesty, other release	Death penalty
Afghanistan	Yes	Never	None	Yes	Murder, terrorism, violation of Islamic law	Treason, drug trafficking	Yes	By President
Albania	Yes, only for men above age 18	25 years	Maximum 30 years for all women	??	Murder with aggravating factor	Terrorism, war crimes	under 18: max. 20 years' imprisonment	Only in extraordinary circumstances may the convicted serving life imprisonment be released on parole	No
Andorra	No	Varies, depending on sentence	25 years	No	No life imprisonment sentence	No life imprisonment sentence	??	No life imprisonment sentence
Argentina	Yes	20 years or never	None	Yes	Murder with aggravating circumstances; murder of a relative; murder of and/or by a police officer; treason	Serial rape; Gender homicide	??	By president or governor of a state (depending on jurisdiction)
Armenia	Yes	20 years	Maximum 15 years	No	No	Aggravated murder, collaborating with Azerbaijani armed forces, treason	??	By President
Austria[14]	Yes	15 years (Imprisonment for a definite period) or never (Imprisonment for lifetime, when clemency is rejected by President)	20 years	Yes	Genocide	Murder, high level drug dealing, Nazi activism, production or distribution of chemical warfare agents to be used in armed conflict; abduction, robbery, rape and statutory rape if the crime causes the victim's death, sea and air piracy and arson if the crime causes the death of a large number of people	under 16: max. 10 years' imprisonment 16–17: max. 15 years' imprisonment 18–20: max. 20 years' imprisonment	By president
Australia	Yes	10 years, 20 years, 25 years, or never; individually set by judge	None	Yes	Murder of police officer or other public official, murder in South Australia, Queensland, Northern Territory, aircraft hijacking	Treason, terrorism, drug trafficking, rape, serious child sex offences	under 18: must have minimum term set	Compassionate release by Governor of state/Administrator of territory, or Governor-General
Azerbaijan[15]	Yes, but only for men aged 18–65	25 years	20 Years	No	Murder, terrorism	Crimes against State, War crimes	No	By President
Belarus	Yes but only for men aged between the age of 18 and 65 (same as Russia)	25 years	15 years and 25 years (separate sentences; 15 years for men under 18 and 25 years for men at the age of 65 and over as well as women)	??	??	??	Maximum 15 years	By courts	Yes (with the exception of women as well as men under the age of 18 and over the age of 65)
Belgium	Yes	15 years (no previous conviction or below 3 years), 19 years (previous conviction below 5 years), or 23 years (previous conviction 5 years or more)[16]	None	No	None	Murder	under 12: cannot be prosecuted 12–15: max. detained till the age of 20 16–17: max. 30 years' imprisonment[17]	Parole by Conditional Release Commission or pardon by King
Belize	Yes	Never	??	??	??	??	??	??
Bangladesh	Yes	30 years	20 Years	No	Murder, treason, terrorism	Culpable homicide, rape, robbery, dacoity	??	??	Yes
Bolivia	No	Varies, depending on sentence	30 years	No	No life imprisonment sentence	No life imprisonment sentence	??	No life imprisonment sentence
Bosnia and Herzegovina	No	Varies, depending on sentence	45 years	No	No life imprisonment sentence	No life imprisonment sentence	??	No life imprisonment sentence
Brazil	No (except in wartime)[18]	Varies, depending on sentence	30 years	No	No life imprisonment sentence	No life imprisonment sentence	No	No life imprisonment sentence
Bulgaria[19]	Yes	20 years or never	None	Yes	None	Aggravated murder, aggravated kidnapping, aggravated robbery, treason, espionage, war crimes, genocide, desertion in wartime	under 14: cannot be prosecuted 14-16: maximum 10 years 16-18: maximum 12 years	By President
Cambodia	Yes	Never	None	No	Murder, genocide, crimes against humanity, terrorism	Drug trafficking	Yes	By King
Canada	Yes	25 years for 1st degree murder or high treason; 10 years minimum for 2nd degree murder (consecutive sentencing may extend parole ineligibility beyond 25 years in multiple murder cases)[20][21]	None	Yes	High treason, 1st degree murder, 2nd degree murder	Various crimes including armed robbery, kidnapping, aggravated sexual assault and most offenses resulting in death	14+: Yes, only if sentenced as adult[22]	Yes, but only through royal prerogative of mercy[23][24]	Abolished in 1976
Cape Verde	No	Varies, depending on sentence	25 years	No	No life imprisonment sentence	No life imprisonment sentence	??	No life imprisonment sentence
Colombia	No	Varies, depending on sentence	60 years	No	No life imprisonment sentence	No life imprisonment sentence	??	No life imprisonment sentence
Costa Rica	No	Varies, depending on sentence	50 years	No	No life imprisonment sentence	No life imprisonment sentence	??	No life imprisonment sentence
Chile	Yes	20 years; 40 years for military crimes	None	Yes	None	Treason, kidnapping with homicide or rape, rape with homicide, parricide, robbery with homicide or rape	14–15: max. 5 years' imprisonment 16–17: max. 10 years' imprisonment	By President
People's Republic of China	Yes	10 years for non-violent crimes; never for murder, rape, kidnapping, arson, explosives offences, placing hazardous materials or other organized violent crimes	None	No	No	Various	Yes	By courts	Yes
Croatia	No[25]	Varies, depending on sentence	40 years[25]	No	No life imprisonment sentence	No life imprisonment sentence	No life imprisonment sentence	No life imprisonment sentence	Abolished in 1991
Cuba	Yes	30 years or never	None	No	Murder, drug trafficking	??	Yes	By President	Yes
Cyprus	Yes	20 years	None	Yes	Premeditated murder	Terrorism, treason, drug trafficking	??	By President
Czech Republic[26]	Yes	20 years generally 30 or more years if part of sentence[27]	None	No	None	Some cases of murder, public endangerment, treason, terrorism, genocide, crimes against humanity, use of forbidden combat device or forbidden combat tactics, war crimes, persecution of population, misuse of international symbols	15–18: max. 10 years' imprisonment	By President
Denmark	Yes	12 years[28]	None[29]	Yes	No	Treason, espionage during wartime, use of force against the parliament, terrorism, arson under circumstances that are life-threatening, hijacking of vehicles, willful release of nuclear substances, murder	Maximum 16 years	After 12 years entitled to request to Minister of Justice; granted by King or Queen of Denmark	No
Dominican Republic	No	Varies, depending on sentence	30 years	No	No life imprisonment sentence	No life imprisonment sentence	13–15: max. 5 years' imprisonment 16–17: max. 8 years' imprisonment	No life imprisonment sentence
Ecuador	No	Varies, depending on sentence	35 years	No	No life imprisonment sentence	No life imprisonment sentence	??	No life imprisonment sentence
El Salvador	No (Except in wartime)	Varies, depending on sentence	75 years	No	No life imprisonment sentence	No life imprisonment sentence	??	No life imprisonment sentence
Egypt	Yes	Never	None	No	Murder, rape, kidnapping, terrorism	Drug offenses	Yes	By president
Estonia	Yes	30 years	None	Yes (de facto)	None	Some cases of murder, some cases of handling drugs, crimes against humanity, genocide, acts of war against civilians, terrorism, violence against the independence of Estonia, causing an explosion using nuclear energy[30]	Maximum length 10 years	Pardon by president[31]
Finland	Yes	12 years for court release; any time for presidential pardon[32]	None	Yes	Murder	High treason, espionage, genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, homicidal terrorist act	under 18: max. 15 years' imprisonment under 21: minimum 10 years for parole request	By president, Helsinki Court of Appeal
France	Yes	18–22 years (30 years or never for very rare cases)	None	Yes, but only if decided by court at sentencing	None	Aggravated murder, aggravated torture, aggravated treason, drug kingpin, crimes against humanity, war crimes	under 16: max. 20 years' imprisonment 16+: Yes	By president, with countersignature from prime minister and ministry of justice
Germany	Yes, only for someone over the age of 21 (in very rare cases extremely dangerous criminals can get life sentences above the age of 18)	*Before 1977: never (except with presidential pardon). Ruled unconstitutional by Federal Constitutional Court Since 1977: at judge's discretion, most commonly the minimum of 15 years[33]	None	No	Aggravated murder,[34] genocide resulting in death,[35] crimes against humanity resulting in death,[36] war crimes against persons resulting in death[37]	See details	Under 14: cannot be prosecuted 14–18: maximum 10 years 18–21: maximum of 15 years or life[38]	By Federal President or Minister-President	No (abolished in West Germany by the Constitution since 23 May 1949). Abolished by law in West Germany in 1953 and in East Germany in 1987.
Georgia	Yes	20 years	None	No	Murder	Terrorism, treason	??	By president
Greece	Yes	16 years, or 20 years in cases of multiple life sentences	None	Yes	Murder, terrorism	??	Maximum 20 years	By President
Guatemala	No	Varies, depending on sentence	50 years	No	No life imprisonment sentence	No life imprisonment sentence	??	No life imprisonment sentence
Hungary	Yes	20–40 years or never	None	Yes	Murder, after 3 violent crimes	Genocide, high treason	under 18: max. 15 years' imprisonment	By president
Honduras	No	Varies, depending on sentence	40 years	No	No life imprisonment sentence	No life imprisonment sentence	??	No life imprisonment sentence
Hong Kong, China	Yes	Individually set by judge	None	Yes	Murder, genocide involving killing	Manslaughter, drug trafficking, treason, incitement to mutiny, piratical acts, rape, arson	Must have minimum term set	By Chief Executive of Hong Kong, under the recommendation of Long Term Prison Sentences Review Board
Iceland	No	Varies, depending on sentence	20 years	No	No life imprisonment sentence	No life imprisonment sentence	No life imprisonment sentence	No life imprisonment sentence	No
India	Yes	25 years or never	None	Yes	None	Kidnapping, murder, dacoity, rape, sedition	Yes	May be pardoned or reprieved by exercise of prerogative clemency powers of the President or the Governor	Yes
Indonesia	Yes	Never	None	Yes	None	??	under 18 : maximum of 10 years.	By President (usually reduced by remission after period of years)	Yes
Ireland	Yes	12–30 years or never; individually set by judge	None	Yes	Murder, treason, some serious injuries, etc. (see details)	See details	??	By President	No
Israel	Yes	Never	None	Yes	Murder, terrorism	Kidnapping child with intent to murder	Yes	By president usually after 30 years
Italy	Yes	21 years, 26 years, or never	None	Yes	Murder, terrorism, mafia association, drug trafficking, human trafficking, treason	Aggravated sexual assault, aggravated robbery, firearm trafficking	under 16: max. 20 years' imprisonment	By president
Jamaica	Yes	10–30 years or never; individually set by judge	None	Yes	??	??	??	??
Japan	Yes	10 years or never	None	Yes	Varies by prefecture (Murder)	Death sentence due to foreign aggression	Yes	By Emperor	Yes
Jordan	Yes	Never	None	No	Murder, terrorism, espionage	Drug trafficking	Yes	By King
Kazakhstan	Yes	25 years or never	None	Yes	Murder, terrorism	??	Maximum 20 years	By President
Kiribati	Yes	25 years or never	None	??	??	??	??	??
Kyrgyzstan	Yes	Never	None	Yes	Murder, terrorism	??	??	By President
Kosovo	No	Varies, depending on sentence	40 years	No	No life imprisonment sentence	No life imprisonment sentence	??	No life imprisonment sentence
Lao People's Democratic Republic	Yes	Never	None	Yes	??	??	??	??
Latvia	Yes	25 years	None	Yes	Murder, treason, terrorism, war crimes	Drug offenses, rape, robbery, sabotage, crimes against humanity	??	By President
Lebanon	Yes	10 years	None	No	Aggravated murder, terrorism, treason	Drug trafficking and manufacturing	Yes	By President	Yes[39][40]
Lithuania	Yes	Never	None	Yes	Murder, terrorism	??	??	By President	Abolished in 1998[41]
Liechtenstein	Yes	15 years	None	No	None	Murder, terrorism	??	Pardon by prince
Luxembourg	Yes	15 years	None	Yes	Murder, treason	Terrorism	??	By Grand Duke
Macau, China	No	Varies, depending on sentence	25 years (30 in exceptional circumstances)[42]	No	No life imprisonment sentence	No life imprisonment sentence	??	No life imprisonment sentence
Republic of Macedonia	Yes	15 years	None	Yes	Murder, terrorism	Rape, robbery, drug offenses crimes against humanity	Yes	By President
Malaysia	Yes	20 years or never	None	Yes	Murder, drug offenses, serious firearms/ammunition/explosive offenses, terrorism, rape, attack on monarch, violence to parliament, treason	??	??	By Yang di-Pertuan Agong / Federal Pardon Committee	Yes
Malta	Yes	Never; only pardon by President	None	Yes	Murder, terrorism	??	??	By President
Mexico	No (exception of Chihuahua)	Varies, depending on sentence	60 years (70 years if convicted of murder involving kidnapping)	No[43]	No life imprisonment sentence	No life imprisonment sentence	??	No life imprisonment sentence
Republic of Moldova	Yes	35 years	None	Yes	Murder, terrorism	??	??	By President
Monaco	Yes	15 years	None	Yes	Murder, terrorism, genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity	??	??	By Prince
Montenegro	No	Varies, depending on sentence	40 years	No	No life imprisonment sentence	No life imprisonment sentence	??	No life imprisonment sentence
Morocco	Yes	Never	None	No	Murder, terrorism, treason	Drug trafficking and manufacturing	Yes	By King / Queen
The Netherlands	Yes	Never	None	Yes (de facto)	None	Attack on monarch, violence to parliament, several facts constituting an offence resulting in death of (a) person(s) (not manslaughter), manslaughter in combination with other facts, facts with intent to terrorism, treason	under 12: cannot be prosecuted 12–15: maximum 12 month 16–17: maximum 24 months	By monarch (almost never granted)
Mozambique	No	Varies, depending on sentence	30 years	No	No life imprisonment sentence	No life imprisonment sentence	??	No life imprisonment sentence
Nepal	Yes	20 years	None	No	Murder, terrorism	??	??	By president
New Zealand	Yes	Individually set by judge, but not less than 10 years	None	Yes	Treason	Murder (mandatory unless manifestly unjust), manslaughter, terrorism certain drug related offenses	under 18: must have minimum term set	Sentence may be reduced or pardon granted by the Governor General (Rarely done)
Nicaragua	No	Varies, depending on sentence	30 years	No	No life imprisonment sentence	No life imprisonment sentence	??	No life imprisonment sentence
Nigeria	Yes	Never[44]	None	Yes	??	??	No life imprisonment sentence	??
Democratic People's Republic of Korea	Yes	15 years	None	Yes (de facto and de jure)	Murder, espionage, treason	??	Yes	By president
Norway	No	Varies, depending on sentence	21 years (can be extended indefinitely if the criminal poses a danger to society at the end of served time); 30 years for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity	Yes	No life imprisonment sentence	No life imprisonment sentence	No life imprisonment sentence, people over age of 15 can be sentenced by normal laws or to child protection	No life imprisonment sentence	No
Pakistan	Yes	25 years	None	??	??	??	??	By President	Yes
Panama	No	Varies, depending on sentence	50 years	No	No life imprisonment sentence	No life imprisonment sentence	??	No life imprisonment sentence
Paraguay	No	Varies, depending on sentence	25 years	No	No life imprisonment sentence	No life imprisonment sentence	??	No life imprisonment sentence
Peru	Yes	35 years or never	None	Yes	Murder with aggravated circumstances, terrorism, treason, sex with under 10 year olds	Murder with aggravated circumstances, terrorism, treason, sex with under 10 year olds, serious kidnapping, violent rape, attempted murder	??	By President
Poland	Yes	25 years or more; individually set by judge	None	No	None	Genocide, war crimes, high treason, murder, attempted assassination of Polish president	under 18: max. 25 years' imprisonment	Pardon by president, amnesty by act of parliament (last amnesty in 1989)
Portugal	No	Varies, depending on sentence	25 years	No	No life imprisonment sentence	No life imprisonment sentence	??	No life imprisonment sentence
Romania	Yes	20 years	None	No; replaced by 25 years' imprisonment at age 60[45]	Genocide during wartime, inhumane treatment during wartime	Treason and other grave crimes against the state, extremely grave murder, capitulation, desertion on the battlefield, crimes against peace or humanity[46]	under 18: max. 20 years' imprisonment[47]	Pardon by President, amnesty by act of Parliament
Republic of the Congo	No	Varies, depending on sentence	30 years	No	No life imprisonment sentence	No life imprisonment sentence	??	No life imprisonment sentence
Russian Federation	Yes, but only for men between 18 and 65 years.	25 years or 30 years (25 years for murder and 30 years for murder with exceptional circumstances (for men aged 65 and over as well as women) unless multiple murders are committed for the offender to be liable for life imprisonment)	25 years or 30 years; 25 years for a single murder and also for woman, 30 years for a single murder with exceptional circumstances for men aged 65 years and over as well as women.	No	No	See details	under 18: max. 10 years' imprisonment	By President
Saudi Arabia	Yes	Never	None	No	Apostasy from Islam, drug trafficking, willful killing	Homosexuality, witchcraft	Yes	By King	Yes
Serbia	No	Varies, depending on sentence	40 years	No	No life imprisonment sentence	No life imprisonment sentence	??	No life imprisonment sentence
Singapore	Yes	20 years	None	Yes	Kidnapping for ransom	Drug trafficking, gun crime	Prisoner detained at the President's discretion	??	Yes
Slovakia	Yes	25 years	None	Yes	Murder, terrorism, treason	Crimes against humanity, war crimes	under 14: no imprisonment 14–17: max. 15 years' imprisonment[48]	By President
Slovenia	Yes	25 years	None	Yes	Murder, treason	Terrorism, drug offenses, crimes against humanity	??	By President
South Africa	Yes	10, 15, or 25 years	None	No	Certain murder, rape and robbery	??	??	??
Republic of Korea	Yes	10 years or never	None	No	High treason, robbery (rape) with deadly outcomes, arson, murder of relative, etc.	Counterfeiting or falsification of currency	Maximum 10 years (for certain violent crimes 20 years)	By President and requires agreement of National Assembly
Spain	Yes	18 to 22 years, depending on the crime	40 years	Yes	Murder of a minor, rape and murder, terrorism, multiple murder, magnicide, genocide, wartime sexual violence		No	By Cabinet	No
Sweden	Yes	18 years or never, but parole hearing may be held after 10 years served, thus fixing a much later date for release on parole	None	Yes	None	Murder, kidnapping, arson, sabotage, devastation, hijacking, espionage, terror crimes, rebellion, endangering the public health by spread of contagion or poison, disloyalty when negotiating with foreign powers, trading in anti-personnel mines, cluster bombs or chemical or nuclear weapons, unlawful nuclear explosion, treason, genocide; in wartime only: mutiny, insubordination, undermining the will to fight, desertion, unauthorised capitulation, negligence of war preparations and negligence of battle duty; attempts, accessories, accomplices and incitements of all the above crimes might also be punished with life imprisonment.[49]	under 21: no life imprisonment	By the District Court of Örebro (parole hearing). Or by the Government (pardon).[50]
Switzerland	Yes	10 years or 15 years; individually set by judge	None	Yes	None	Aggravated murder,[51] aggravated hostage-taking,[52] genocide,[53] endangering the independence of the country[54]	under 15: no imprisonment 15–17: max. 4 years' imprisonment[55]	By Federal Assembly (Parliament)[56]
Suriname	No	Varies, depending on sentence	50 years	No	No life imprisonment sentence	No life imprisonment sentence	??	No life imprisonment sentence
Republic of China (Taiwan)	Yes	25 years	None	Third violent crime	Aggravated murder, hard drug trafficking	Many violent crimes causing death, etc.	Banned by Criminal Code	By President
Tajikistan	Yes	Never	None	No	Murder, terrorism	Treason	Yes	By President
Thailand	Yes	Never	None	No	Murder, terrorism, drug trafficking and manufacturing	Kidnapping, sex offenses	Yes	By King
Tunisia	Yes	Never	None	No	Murder, terrorism, treason, hijacking, espionage, attempting to overthrow the government	Drug trafficking	Yes	By President
Turkey	Yes	Life imprisonment: 24 years (30 if organized crime), multiple life imprisonments: 30 years (34 if organized crime), aggravated life imprisonment: 30 years (36 if organized crime), multiple aggravated life imprisonments: 36 years (40 if organized crime), or never (aggravated life imprisonment for terrorism)	None	Yes	Murder with special cirucumstances, treason, terrorism	Sexual offences, military and political crimes	Maximum 24 years	By President in case of permanent illness, rehabilitation, disability or decrepitude
Turkmenistan	Yes	Never	None	No	Murder, terrorism	Treason	Yes	By President
Ukraine	Yes	Never	None	No	Murder with aggravating circumstances	??	Maximum 15 years	By President
United Kingdom:  England and  Wales	Yes	Individually set by judge (maximum whole life tariff)	None	Yes	Murder	See details	under 10: cannot be prosecuted 10–21: yes, with specified minimum term 21 and over: may be given whole life order (life without possibility of parole), usually only in the most serious cases involving murder	By Act of Parliament (in accordance with the principle of parliamentary sovereignty) or royal prerogative of mercy (delegated to the Lord Chancellor)
United Kingdom:  Scotland	Yes	Individually set by judge	None	Yes	Murder	??	No whole life tariff	Compassionate release by Cabinet Secretary for Justice (Scottish Government); amnesty by royal decree (by means of the royal prerogative of mercy) alone or with act of parliament (in accordance with the principle of Parliamentary sovereignty)
United Kingdom:  Northern Ireland	Yes	Individually set by judge	None	No[57][58]	Murder, rape	Robbery	??	General release through a referendum-based agreement in 1998 (became applicable in 3 cases: i, ii, iii). The royal prerogative of mercy or an Act of Parliament (in accordance with the principle of Parliamentary sovereignty) can be used to grant amnesty like the rest of the UK.
United States	Yes	any minimum term from 15 years, or never (depending on crime and state)	None	Yes	Varies by state	Varies by state	Yes (de jure)	By president or governor of a state (depending on jurisdiction)	Yes (depending on state)
Uruguay	No	Varies, depending on sentence	30 years	No	No life imprisonment sentence	No life imprisonment sentence	??	No life imprisonment sentence
Uzbekistan	Yes, only for men aged between 18 and 60 years	25 years or never	30 years for women and men over the age of 60	No	None	Aggravated murder, terrorism	Maximum 10 years	By President
Vatican City	No	Varies, depending on sentence	35 years	No	No life imprisonment sentence	No life imprisonment sentence	??	No life imprisonment sentence (for serious offenses, the Vatican often works with Italian authorities; certain offenses are pardonable or reducible by the Pope and/or ecclesiastical or civil Vatican courts)
Venezuela	No	Varies, depending on sentence	30 years	No	No life imprisonment sentence	No life imprisonment sentence	??	No life imprisonment sentence
Vietnam	Yes	Never	None	Yes (de jure)	??	??	under 16: max. 14 years' imprisonment 16–17: max. 18 years' imprisonment	By president	Yes

See also

• 10-20-Life
• Incapacitation (penology)
• Indefinite imprisonment
• List of prison deaths
• Use of capital punishment by country

Notes

1. "Penalties for Drunk Driving Vehicular Homicide" (PDF) (PDF). Mothers Against Drunk Driving. May 2012.
2. "The Sentencing Project News - New Publication: Life Goes On: The Historic Rise in Life Sentences in America". sentencingproject.org.
3. "Ariel Castro gets life, no parole; victim says his hell awaits". latimes.
4. Mecon. "InfoLEG - Ministerio de Economía y Finanzas Públicas - Argentina". mecon.gov.ar.
5. "Laws of Other Nations". usfca.edu. Archived from the original on 27 June 2015.
6. "The Rest of Their Lives: Life without Parole for Child Offenders in the United States", 2008.
7. "State Distribution of Youth Offenders Serving Juvenile Life Without Parole (JLWOP)". Human Rights Watch. 2 October 2009. Retrieved 3 August 2011.
8. "Stats by State". Endjlwop.org. The Campaign for the Fair Sentencing of Youth. Archived from the original on 26 July 2011. Retrieved 3 August 2011.
9. David G. Savage (17 May 2010). "Supreme Court Restricts Life Sentences Without Parole for Juveniles". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 17 April 2014.
10. Drinan, C. H. (2012, March). "Graham on the Ground". Washington Law Review, 87(1), 51–91. Criminal Justice Abstracts. Retrieved 28 October 2012.
11. "Criminal justice: Supreme Court to consider constitutionality of life without parole for young killers". Chicago Tribune. 19 March 2012. Retrieved 30 March 2012.
12. "Court bars mandatory life without parole for youths, rejects cross case". Catholic News Service. 25 June 2012. Retrieved 17 April 2014.
13. Kevin Johnson (22 July 2009). "Report wants life without parole abolished". USA Today.
14. "section 18 of the Austrian criminal code". Ris.bka.gv.at. Retrieved 30 March 2012.
15. "The abolition of the death penalty and its alternative sanction in South Caucasus: Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia" (PDF). penalreform.org. p. 50.
16. (French) (Dutch) extract from the Belgian Official Journal advocaat.be 17 March 2013.
17. (Dutch) Jeugdsanctierecht in Europa: is uithandengeving een evidentie? Jura falconis, jg 44, 2007–2008, nr 1, pp. 3–38
18. Brazil's Constitution prohibits the death penalty with a saving allowing the death penalty in wartime, if the state of war is duly declared by Congress (art. 5, item XLVII, subitem "a)"); the Constitution's next line (art. 5, item XLVII, subitem "b)"), prohibits life sentences. The clause prohibiting life imprisonment does not contain a saving similar to the death penalty clause, and thus life sentences are not allowed even in wartime. It is unclear, however, if the Presidential power of mercy, that allows the President to pardon or commute a penal sentence, could be used to reduce a death penalty imposed in wartime, transforming it into a sentence of life imprisonment.
19. "Criminal code of the Republic of Bulgaria". Legislationline.org. Retrieved 30 March 2012.
20. "Baumgartner gets life with no parole for 40 years; harshest punishment in decades". CTV News. 11 September 2013. Retrieved 17 April 2014.
21. CBC News (31 October 2014). "Justin Bourque gets 5 life sentences, no chance of parole for 75 years". CBC News. Retrieved 20 February 2016.
22. Justice BC (11 September 2013). "Maximum Youth Sentences". Youth Criminal Justice Act. Retrieved 17 April 2014.
23. Criminal Code, R.S. 1985, c. C-46, s. 748, as amended by R.S., 1985, c. 1 (4th Supp.), s. 45(F) and R.S.C., 1992, c. 22, s. 12; and R.S.C., 1995, c. 22, s. 6. (Criminal Code at CanLii)
24. Criminal Records Act, R.S. 1995, c. 22, s. 6(1), as amended by R.S., 1985, c. 1 (4th Supp.), s. 45(F) and R.S.C., 1992, c. 22, s. 4; and R.S.C., 2000, c. 1, s. 1(F) and R.S.C., 2010, c. 5, s. 2 and R.S.C, 2012, c. 1, s. 115. (Criminal Records Act at CanLii)
25. Kovčo Vukadin, Irma; Žakman-Ban, Vladimira; Jandrić-Nišević, Anita (2010). "Prisoner Rehabilitation in Croatia" (PDF). Varstvoslovje, Journal of Criminal Justice and Security. 12 (2): 143–162. ISSN 1580-0253. Retrieved 1 December 2010.
26. "Czech Criminal Code". Business.center.cz. Retrieved 30 March 2012.
27. The court may decide that only the time in less-than-maximum security prison counts for the purposes of parole and that the convict must serve at least ten years in maximum security. A record of good behavior is needed for transfer to lower security in which 20 years must be served then.
28. Danish Criminal Act section 41
29. af ptho for TV 2 Nyhederne. "Hvorfor er livstid kun 16 år i Danmark? – TV 2 Nyhederne". Nyhederne-dyn.tv2.dk. Retrieved 30 March 2012.
30. "Estonian Penal Code (English translation)". Retrieved 6 July 2013.
31. "Estonia releases first life prisoner – BONJOUR L'ESTONIE". Shaan.typepad.com. 6 November 2008. Retrieved 3 August 2011.
32. "Oikeuslaitos – Imprisonment and community service". Oikeus.fi. Archived from the original on 25 June 2009. Retrieved 3 August 2011.
33. sec. 57a(1) German Criminal Code Strafgesetzbuch
34. sec. 211(1) German Criminal Code
35. sec. 6(1) German Criminal Code on crimes against international law and war crimes Völkerstrafgesetzbuch
36. sec. 7(1) German Criminal Code on crimes against international law and war crimes
37. sec. 8(1) German Criminal Code on crimes against international law and war crimes
38. A person between the ages of 18 and 21 can be tried before a juvenile court "Jugendgericht" (which happens in almost all cases concerning minors) or an adult court, which is determined by the intellectual development of the accused and the severity of the crime itself.
39. "Article 549 Penal Code". english.al-akhbar.com.
40. Ari Yashar (March 28, 2014). "Lebanese Revolution? Death Sentence For Wife Beater". ArutzSheva. Retrieved 17 April 2014.
41. "VIII-1250 Lietuvos Respublikos įstatymas dėl Europos žmogaus teisių ir pagrindinių laisvių apsaugos konvenc...". e-seimas.lrs.lt. Retrieved 2016-05-21.
42. "Código Penal – Art. 1 a 100" (in Portuguese). Imprensa Oficial (Government Printing Bureau). 14 November 1995. Retrieved 17 February 2009.
43. For details of new rulings from Mexican Supreme Court, see: "Wanted Fugitive Raul Gomez Garcia Extradited to the U.S." (US Embassy in Mexico) and Mexico alters extradition rules (BBC News)) Archived 15 May 2007 at the Wayback Machine.
44. "6 Nigerian Soldiers Bag Life Imprisonment". ConnectAfrica. 19 November 2008. Retrieved 3 August 2011.
45. "Criminal Code of Romania, art. 55" (in Romanian). Retrieved 14 December 2012.
46. C. Mitrache, C. Mitrache (2010). Drept penal român. Universul Juridic. p. 198.
47. "Criminal Code of Romania, art. 109" (in Romanian). Retrieved 14 December 2012.
48. § 117 Slovak Criminal Code
49. Riksdagsförvaltningen. "Svensk författningssamling 1962:700". riksdagen.se.
50. Riksdagsförvaltningen. "Svensk författningssamling 1974:152". riksdagen.se.
51. art. 112 Swiss Criminal Code
52. art. 185 Swiss Criminal Code
53. art. 264 Swiss Criminal Code
54. art. 266 Swiss Criminal Code
55. (French)art. 25 Juvenile Criminal Code
56. art. 173 al. 1 let. k Constitution of the Swiss Confederation
57. Deborah McAleese; Emily Moulton (28 June 2008). "Fury over ruling that could see Attracta's killer freed". Belfast Telegraph. Retrieved 17 April 2014.
58. "Neutral Citation No.[2008] NICA 27". courtsni.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 22 August 2011.

External links

• International perspectives on life imprisonment