Sentencing Act 2020

321 Life sentence: minimum term order or whole life order

(1) Where a court passes a life sentence, it must make an order under this section.

(2) The order must be a minimum term order unless the court is required to make a whole life order under subsection (3).

(3) The order must be a whole life order if—

(a) the offender was 21 or over when the offence was committed, and

(b) the court is of the opinion that, because of the seriousness of—

(i) the offence, or

(ii) the combination of the offence and one or more offences associated with it,

it should not make a minimum term order.

(4) A minimum term order is an order that the early release provisions (see section 324) are to apply to the offender as soon as the offender has served the part of the sentence which is specified in the order in accordance with section 322 or 323 (“the minimum term”).

(5) A whole life order is an order that the early release provisions are not to apply to the offender.