Coroners and Justice Bill

That is partly the point. One of the things that we aspire to achieve with these provisions is a greater degree of clarity, certainty and, therefore, consistency. That is the aspiration. A number of noble Lords have said, during this debate and elsewhere, that one of the problems we have with the current process is that it lacks clarity, simplicity and certainty. So we are seeking—in both the provisions relating to diminished responsibility and those relating to loss of control—to give a greater degree of clarity so that we know what falls within the categories of murder and manslaughter. That is the whole purpose of this debate. This amendment seeks to create what I must respectfully suggest to the House is an unhelpful halfway house between murder and manslaughter, eroding the boundary between the two. It would mean that a person could be convicted of murder but face the consequences which would flow from a manslaughter verdict. It is generally accepted that the rationale for a manslaughter verdict, in circumstances where a partial defence applies, is to allow the defendant to be freed from the full consequences of a murder conviction—that is, a life sentence. The noble Lord, Lord Pannick, raised the issue of the life sentence. The life sentence has a real bite because it remains in being for the whole of that individual’s life. If at any stage they transgress, they can be brought back. That is why the noble and learned Lord, Lord Mayhew, says this is a blunt instrument because the life sentence is for life. It cannot, therefore, be disregarded, saying, "You have done your tariff and that is the end of it". It is not the end of it; it goes on.