Imposing indeterminate prison sentences in England and Wales breaches human rights, the European Court of Human Rights has ruled.
Three convicted criminals had argued their human rights were breached because they were stuck on a waiting list for rehabilitation courses.
The courses assess whether prisoners given indefinite sentences are safe to be released.
Indeterminate sentences have already been reformed to reduce their use.
In 2005, the three men were given indeterminate imprisonment for public protection (IPPs).
Anger management
These sentences had been introduced two years earlier for offenders who ministers said needed to be held until it was clear they were no longer a threat, even if that meant holding them for longer than the years specified by a judge known as the tariff.
But in the cases before the Strasbourg court, the men argued they could not get on the courses to show how they had changed.
Brett James, jailed for two years for unlawful wounding with intent, had a series of convictions for violent offences since he was 17.
James completed some courses in prison but could not get a place on anger management and substance abuse programmes.
The Parole Board ruled he could not be released because he had not completed assessments to make a proper judgement of his character.
The other two men, Nicholas Wells and Jeffrey Lee, said they had similar experiences after being jailed for serious violent offences. All three cases went to the Law Lords, which ruled against the men.
In their appeal to the European Court, the three argued the government had breached their right to liberty by failing to put them on those courses that would allow the Parole Board to assess their progress.
IPPs have been used to indefinitely detain serious offenders, including violent criminals and at times people convicted of terrorism offences.
There are 6,000 IPP prisoners in England and Wales, representing 7% of the total jail population. The figure has continued to rise year-on-year, although the rate slowed as changes were made to limit how they were used.
Most of the IPPs were given tariffs of six years or less and 1,200 had a tariff of less than two years. Six out of 10 of the prisoners have served the years specified in their tariff.
Parliament recently abolished IPPs and replaced them with a system of longer sentences for some offenders coupled with extensive supervision and monitoring after release.
18 Sep, 2012
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Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-19630617#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa
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