CAMPAIGN MILESTONES
FROM FAMILY ACTION TO GLOBAL JUSTICE
What began as families refusing to accept an indefinite injustice has developed into sustained parliamentary advocacy, public mobilisation, international human-rights action and legal challenge. These milestones record how the campaign has grown—and why its work must continue until every IPP and DPP sentence has ended.
2022 — THE CAMPAIGN ENTERS PARLIAMENT
IPP Committee in Action worked with Marie Cavanagh and John McDonnell MP to bring the demand for resentencing directly into Parliament. John McDonnell subsequently tabled Early Day Motion 352 calling for action on IPP sentences.
2022 — ONE HUNDRED VOICES UNITE
One hundred civil-society figures supported a joint letter opposing the continuing injustice of IPP. It demonstrated that demands for change extended far beyond prisoners and their families.
2023–2024 — PUBLIC PRESSURE FORCES A RESPONSE
A parliamentary petition calling for resentencing secured 11,413 signatures and compelled a formal government response. Although the Government rejected resentencing, the petition placed complete reform firmly on the public and political record.
2025 — FIVE CASES REACH THE UNITED NATIONS
IPP Committee in Action supported the landmark complaint concerning five people subjected to prolonged detention under IPP. Their experiences brought the human consequences of the sentence before the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention.
JUNE–JULY 2026 — THE UNITED NATIONS CONDEMNS THE INJUSTICE
United Nations experts warned that many IPP sentences had become forms of psychological torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading punishment. On 23 July, the Working Group published Opinion No. 16/2026, finding the continuing detention of five IPP petitioners arbitrary and unlawful under international law.
AUGUST 2026 — THE CASE REACHES THE HIGH COURT
Following the UN ruling, applications for habeas corpus were lodged in the High Court on behalf of Leroy Douglas, Wayne Williams, Shaun Lloyd and Abdullahi Suleman. The proceedings ask the domestic courts to confront the legality of their continuing detention.
AUGUST 2026 — GOVERNMENT COMMITS TO ENDING IPP
On 30 August 2026, the Prime Minister committed the Government to bringing the injustice of IPP sentences to an end during this Parliament. The announcement marked a historic shift—but a commitment is not legislation, and the campaign continues.
2026 — THE PEOPLE’S INQUIRY BEGINS
IPP Committee in Action is establishing an independent, 24-month People’s Inquiry to create an authoritative public record of the sentence’s creation, operation and consequences—and to develop proposals for truth, accountability, reparation and non-recurrence.
