The parents of James Bulger are to have a say in how long the murdered boy’s two killers

The parents of James Bulger are to have a say in how long the murdered boy’s two killers should spend in prison.
The new Lord Chief Justice, Lord Woolf, said that he had asked the Director of Public Prosecutions to seek representations from James’s mother, Denise Fergus, and father, Ralph Bulger.In his first act as Lord Chief Justice, and shortly after he was sworn in at a ceremony at the Royal Courts of Justice yesterday, Lord Woolf also made clear that the two murderers, Robert Thompson and Jon Venables, would be consulted on the new tariff.The Home Secretary, Jack Straw, referred the issue of the minimum sentence to the Lord Chief Justice earlier this year after the European Court of Human Rights ruled that it was wrong for a Home Secretary, then Michael Howard, to have set a tariff of 15 years. The trial judge had recommended a minimum sentence of eight years and the late Lord Taylor of Gosforth, then Lord Chief Justice, suggested 10 years.In response to the Strasbourg ruling, Lord Woolf will be reviewing the tariffs in more than 140 cases involving young people ordered to be detained for life, such as Thompson and Venables, who were 10 when they killed James in 1993. Lord Woolf acknowledged it was now “inevitable” that with the introduction of the Human Rights Act in October, responsibility for deciding tariffs for mandatory life sentences for adults would also be transferred from the Home Secretary to the judiciary. This could, in effect, mean hundreds of criminals will be given a new sentence.Lord Woolf said he would “fully explain” his decision in open court, because he was aware that, unlike the Home Secretary, he was not subject to parliamentary scrutiny or political debate.

However, he acknowledged that it was open to any of the parties to challenge his decision by judicial review.He said it was a decision that had been “thrust” on the Home Secretary and the courts by the European Court in Strasbourg, but added: “I think it is very important that all those involved should have an opportunity to have an input into the process, that is why it has taken longer than the courts would like.”Robin Makin, the solicitor who represents James’s father, said he was not surprised by Lord Woolf’s announcement. “This is something we have been working quietly behind the scenes on and would prefer it to remain that way,” Mr Makin said.James’s mother, of Kirkby, Merseyside, said Lord Woolf’s decision was the “first victory in eight years” since the toddler’s death.Ms Fergus’s solicitor, Sean Sexton, said: “She hopes that Lord Woolf sets his tariff as soon as possible so that the two can be transferred into the youth custody system where they belong … But she is also extremely concerned that Thompson and Venables should not be given special treatment because of theirnotoriety.”This week the Home Office said James’s killers, who both turn 18 in August, will be spared prison for at least another year. Prison Service sources have confirmed that Thompson and Venables are to stay in local authority care until they are 19.The Lord Chief Justice said one of his key roles in his new job would be boosting public confidence in the criminal justice system, and that meant explaining decisions, no matter how unpopular.In cases such as those of Thompson and Venables, it was important that the tariffs both punished and deterred, but a third important factor was the question of rehabilitation. “People are going to have to enter society at some stage, and if they are going to re-enter society it is very important they do so in a way where their offending is behind them,” Lord Woolf said.He predicted that the incorporation of the European Convention on Human Rights into domestic law in October would not create an “avalanche” of new cases. But he warned lawyers not to use the Act to make “far-fetched” arguments. Judges, he said, would make clear from the outset that “bad points” would be discouraged.At yesterday’s swearing in ceremony Lord Woolf, 67, the former Master of the Rolls, became the most senior judge in England and Wales.

Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers was also sworn in yesterday as Master of the Rolls.Lord “Harry” Woolf, who was called to the Bar in 1954, has built a reputation as an independent and liberal-minded judge, who oversaw the biggest shake-up of the civil courts since the Second World War. Introduced in April last year, the reforms speeded and simplified the civil litigation system in England and Wales.Three years ago, Lord Woolf directly criticised Mr Howard over his handling of the sentences of James Bulger’s killers. He said the former home secretary’s approach had been “perfunctory … and falling below the standards of a court”.Lord Woolf is also sensitive to criticisms of the judiciary. Last year, he made a staunch defence of his fellow judges over allegations that some were sexist, racist and lazy.A former chairman of the Butler Trust prison reform group, he has taken a leading role in the debate over penal reform, calling last year for prisoners to earn more money to compensate their victims. But he is fully behind the Government’s criminal justice reforms.

Yesterday he said the proposal to reduce the choice of trial by jury in middle-ranking offences was something that most judges supported.. Peter Mandelson sought to calm nationalist fears over his proposals to reform the Royal Ulster Constabulary by signalling yesterday that he was willing to offer further concessions to keep the peace process on track. Peter Mandelson sought to calm nationalist fears over his proposals to reform the Royal Ulster Constabulary by signalling yesterday that he was willing to offer further concessions to keep the peace process on track.
The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland conceded the Police Bill needed some “fine tuning” and insisted he was keeping an “open mind”.He confirmed he would strengthen the power of Northern Ireland’s new policing board to order inquiries into police behaviour and to produce reports on their activities. He accepted he had previously set “too many limitations” and was “prepared to strike a different balance”. The board will consist of 19 members, 10 of whom will be directly elected republican and Unionist politicians.Mr Mandelson said he would want to scrap the 10-year deadline in the Bill for ensuring 50 per cent of new recruits were Catholic. Instead, the Government will review the policy every three years and can extend it for an unlimited period.Opening a second reading debate on the Bill, he added: “I’ve already had extensive discussions with all the parties, all of whom have suggested a host of improvements and changes – most of which I can already see are acceptable to the Government because they are entirely consistent with and compatible with the Patten recommendations.”But he warned he was only prepared to accept changes aimed at creating a “modern, efficient, police service rooted in the whole community”.He said: “I am not prepared to assist those who are more interested in constraining the police service than strengthening it, or who are keener to look backwards to old scars, old divisions and old disputes, rather than forward to the new era we are trying to create.”Andrew Mackay, the shadow Northern Ireland Secretary, said the Conservatives believed most of the Patten Report’s recommendations were “uncontroversial” but they remained “implacably opposed” to scrapping the name of the RUC – a change already approved by the Government.