We campaign to bring reform to this ineffective and damaging sentence. Our aim is to have the OLR reformed and resentencing applied retrospectively to those unjustly serving an OLR.
This will ensure that punishment is just and proportionate and relates directly to the offence committed.
It is widely accepted that indeterminate sentences are unjust and inhumane. A similar type of sentence in England and Wales known as the Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) was abolished as being in breach of Human Rights. It has since been described as ‘irredeemably flawed’ and a ‘stain on the Criminal Justice System’.
Despite this, Scotland continues to operate the OLR.
The OLR currently violates the basic principles of justice and has no place in Scotland if it wishes to be a fair and progressive country.
The OLR (Order for Lifelong Restriction) is a sentence that was supposed to be reserved for 'exceptional' offenders deemed a risk to the public.
The OLR is a life sentence which can be given for a much larger range of offences, including a pattern of minor offences.
The Centre for Crime and Justice Studies published a report in 2022 which likened indeterminate sentences to psychological torture.
We are pushing for change with the Scottish Government. We need it to see how the OLR affects Scotland’s reputation as a fair and just Country.
These letters are printed without edit and are the words and views of people serving the OLR Sentence.
They may not represent the views of NOLR.
I want to be clear that NOLR would never minimise the harm caused by offenders. The impact on victims and communities is real and lasting, and any justice system must take that harm seriously.
However, I believe the OLR sentence is flawed in how it responds to that harm. The criteria set for risk assessment means that lesser offences get caught in the same net as the ‘exceptional’ offender the OLR was designed for.
Risk assessments which are controversial and can be poorly completed are being used to predict future behaviour, something they were never designed for. We should all be concerned at a system which imprisons people for things they haven’t yet done and may never do.
Indefinite imprisonment with few opportunities for rehabilitation damages Scotland’s reputation and risks breaching its Human Rights obligations, as stated by the Scottish Human Rights Commission and the UN. They and others, including ourselves, believe that the OLR as it currently exists, undermines principles of fairness and proportionality, particularly when individuals are held beyond what is necessary for public safety.
This is not an argument for leniency or for ignoring the seriousness of offences. Rather, it is a call for a system that is both just and effective—one that protects the public while also ensuring human rights are upheld, punishment is proportionate, transparent, and relates to the offence committed.
Scottish Article 5 breach: 2024csoh47.pdf (scotcourts.gov.uk)
‘Worse than IPP’ – insidetime & insideinformation
Endless sentences ‘can be torture’ – insidetime & insideinformation
Time to reform “torturous and unfair” indeterminate sentences | Centre for Crime and Justice Studies
UN expert urges immediate review of discredited UK sentencing scheme | UN News
