Life Imprisonment Workshop

On 19 August 2014, the Life Imprisonment Worldwide research team hosted a Life Imprisonment Workshop at the School of Law, University of Nottingham. The main aim of the Workshop was to explore current legal and empirical issues in countries that have no formal legislation on life imprisonment. Participants included:

•    Meritxell Abellán, School of Law, University of Nottingham
•    Dr Catherine Appleton, School of Law, University of Nottingham
•    Professor Francisco Javier de León Villalba and Dr Beatriz Lopez Lorca, Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha, Spain, visiting scholars at the School of Law, University of Nottingham
•    Professor William Dixon, School of Sociology and Social Policy, University of Nottingham
•    Professor John Jackson, School of Law, University of Nottingham
•    Jon-Mirena Landa Gorostiza, Associate Professor in Criminal Law, at the Basque Country University in Euskadi, Spain, visiting scholar at the University of Cambridge.
•    Dr Candida Saunders, School of Law, University of Nottingham
•    Professor Dirk van Zyl Smit, School of Law, University of Nottingham

Three papers were presented at the workshop which focused on the following countries and regions: Spain, Latin America and Norway.

Professor Landa Gorostiza’s presentation examined the current debate in Spain on long-term imprisonment, and the process of pre-release and parole for long-term prisoners in Spain. Professor de León Villalba and Dr Lopez Lorca explored emerging research findings on life and long term imprisonment in 21 different countries in Latin America, only six of which have formal laws on life imprisonment. Dr Catherine Appleton discussed maximum penalties in Scandinavia, focusing on Norway’s maximum sentence of 21 years of preventive detention, and the principles and practice that underpin the Norwegian correctional system.