WHEN a murderer is given a life sentence by a judge, what should that punishment mean?

In most cases prisoners are given a minimum term to serve in jail before they become eligible for parole.

If the killer is freed they are put on lifelong licence and can be re-incarcerated if they break conditions attached to their release.

Murder has carried a mandatory life sentence since 1965 but a life sentence can also apply to other crimes such as armed robbery.

In some exceptional cases a judge can make a whole-life order, meaning the offender will spend the rest of their life behind bars.

However, European judges have ruled whole-life jail terms without the possibility of review amount to a breach of human rights.

Murderer Jeremy Bamber and two other killers, Douglas Vinter and Peter Moore, won an appeal that their sentences amount to inhuman and degrading treatment.

The court found that for a life sentence to remain compatible with the European Convention on Human Rights there had to be both a possibility of release and a possibility of review.

In their ruling, the judges said it was up to the national authorities to decide when such a review should take place. However, existing legal comparisons gave support to guaranteeing a review no later than 25 years after the imposition of a life sentence.

Under current UK law, whole-life tariff prisoners will almost certainly never be released from prison as their offences are deemed to be so serious. They can be freed only by the Justice Secretary, who can give discretion on compassionate grounds when the prisoner is terminally ill or seriously incapacitated.

When someone is given a life sentence for a crime such as murder, do you think that in all cases it should mean dying in jail? Should life mean life? Or do you think most serious criminals should at least be considered for release and rejoining society after serving minimum terms?

Do you agree people currently serving whole-life sentences should have their cases reviewed? Have they been treated inhumanely?

Add your comments below.