ABSTRACT

This chapter examines the specific difficulties Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) prisoners share, including hopelessness and the near enough impossibility of proving they are no longer a risk to others. When the Criminal Justice Act of 2003 introduced IPP, the objective was to shield the public from serious sexual and violent offenders in England and Wales. It was designed so those who posed a significant risk of causing serious harm to the public could be detained in prison until they no longer posed such a risk. Originally, the government estimated that IPP would lead to 900 extra offenders entering the prison system but IPP numbers grew rapidly, with many in jail well past their minimum terms. IPPs have proved difficult to understand and leave victims and their families uncertain about how and when an offender will be released. IPPs lead to inconsistent sentencing.