Rejected petition Make life mean life for murder and repeat serious offenders

Amend the Sentencing Act 2020 to make whole life orders mandatory for murder and for offenders who commit murder after previous convictions for serious violent or sexual offences, so life imprisonment means imprisonment for natural life in these cases.

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Current law allows offenders convicted of murder or serious violent or sexual offences to be released after a minimum term, which can put the public at risk and reduce confidence in the justice system. Parliament should make whole life orders mandatory in these cases, prioritising permanent public protection and ensuring life imprisonment truly means life.

This petition was rejected

Why was this petition rejected?

There’s already a petition about this issue. We cannot accept a new petition when we already have one about a very similar issue.

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You may wish to sign the following petition, which calls for similar action:

Mandatory whole life order for murder
https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/759075

We only reject petitions that don’t meet the petition standards.

Date submitted 1 March 2026
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