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Section 273: Life prisoners transferred to England and Wales

Criminal Justice Act 2003 · 2003 c. 44View on legislation.gov.uk

Part 12: Sentencing — Chapter 7: Effect of life sentence

The Secretary of State must refer the case of any transferred life prisoner to the High Court for the making of one or more relevant orders.

In subsection (1) "transferred life prisoner" means a person -

on whom a court in a country or territory outside the British Islands has imposed one or more sentences of imprisonment or detention for an indeterminate period, and
who has been transferred to England and Wales after the commencement of this section in pursuance of—
an order made by the Secretary of State under section 2 of the Colonial Prisoners Removal Act 1884 (c. 31), or
a warrant issued by the Secretary of State under the Repatriation of Prisoners Act 1984 (c. 47),

there to serve his sentence or sentences or the remainder of his sentence or sentences.

In subsection (1) "a relevant order" means a minimum term order or a whole life order under section 321 of the Sentencing Code.

In section 34(1) of the Crime (Sentences) Act 1997 (c. 43) (meaning of "life prisoner" in Chapter 2 of Part 2 of that Act) at the end there is inserted ." and includes a transferred life prisoner as defined by section 273 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 "

The reference in subsection (2)(b) above to a person who has been transferred to England and Wales in pursuance of a warrant issued under the Repatriation of Prisoners Act 1984 includes a reference to a person who is detained in England and Wales in pursuance of a warrant under section 4A of that Act (warrant transferring responsibility for detention and release of offender).

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This legislation text comes from legislation.gov.uk. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. These source and reuse terms cover the legislation text, not Remedy's commentary.

Reuse reviewed 21 August 2026 under Open Government Licence v3.0.