26 April 2017 :

28 April 2017, 3:00-6:30 PM

Life Without Hope

English Lecture Theatre, St Cross Building, University of Oxford, OX1 3UL

Although irreducible life sentences are prohibited, some member states of the Council of Europe provide for sentences that de facto are irreducible. We must reflect upon the legitimacy of such sentences. After an analysis of the most recent case-law of the European Court of Human Rights on life imprisonment, signified by a recent pronouncement against the United Kingdom, the debate will shift to the case of Italy. The screening of the powerful film-documentary, Spes contra Spem, will shed light to the Italian ergastolo ostativo: a particular type life imprisonment only applicable to those who have been convicted for serious crimes related to the Mafia or Terrorism.

Professor Paulo Pinto De Albuquerque

Judge if the European Court of Human Rights

Life Imprisonment in the United Kingdom: Where do we go from here?

Discussant: Professor Liora Lazarus, Oxford Law Faculty

Mrs Elisabetta Zamparutti

Member of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture

Treasurer on NGO Hands Off Cain

Presentation of Spes Contra Spem (ITA, English subs)