[GA, passed] - Ban On Juvenile Life Sentences Without Parole

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The World Assembly finds as follows:

It is unnecessarily cruel for member nations to sentence children to life imprisonment without parole.

1. Children have undeveloped brains which are not yet capable of adequately comprehending the long term effects of their actions, they cannot internalise the extremely long-term impacts of crime.
   
   
2. Children are capable of reforming with the right support, a fact which life imprisonment without parole implicitly denies.
   
   
3. It is broadly unjust to imprison people who have genuinely repented for their crimes and are extremely unlikely to commit them again.

The option of parole ought to be open to child offenders which meet such criteria.

The provision in section 4 of GA 299 "Legal Competence" which allows member nations to "set reasonable thresholds of maturity [or] mental capability for people to hold any other rights or responsibilities within their jurisdictions" does not contradict this proposal. It is not a right or responsibility to be subject to life imprisonment without parole; it would be the opposite of a right and, because being so subject would be a thing done to a person rather than something that person must do, not a responsibility.

Now, therefore, be it enacted as follows:

1. In this resolution, the term "life sentence" refers both to prison sentences issued for the period of a person's life as well as prison sentences issued, in total or otherwise, for a period equal to or exceeding the expected natural life of that person.
   
   
2. No member nation may sentence a person to a life sentence without parole, or possibility thereof, for crimes committed while that person is under the age of majority.
   
   
3. All sentences contravening this resolution, including those given prior to this resolution's enactment that would have been prohibited had this resolution been in force, must be commuted forthwith under procedures not inconsistent with World Assembly law.

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Voting Instructions:

• Vote For if you want the Delegate to vote For the resolution.
• Vote Against if you want the Delegate to vote Against the resolution.
• Vote Abstain if you want the Delegate to abstain from voting on this resolution.
• Vote Present if you are personally abstaining from this vote.

Detailed opinions with your vote are appreciated and encouraged!

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Overview
This resolution proposal seeks to ban the sentencing of juvenile prisoners to life imprisonment without parole, sometimes called a "whole life tariff" in some jurisdictions IRL. The resolution argues that it is a cruel punishment as "children have undeveloped brains" and "capable of reform".

Recommendation
We are somewhat irked by the use of wording like "children" (if the legal age of competence is 18, there's a difference between a 10 year old and a 17 year old) but we support the resolution's principles. Imposing a whole life tariff on someone who is not yet legally competent (at least as defined by existing resolutions, especially GAR 299, "Legal Competence") does not make much sense. IRL the debate is also in favor of the position taken by this resolution, notwithstanding an insignificant amount of crime deliberately committed by young children (such as drug lords using young kids for smuggling).

For the above reasons, the Ministry of World Assembly Affairs recommends a vote For the at-vote GA resolution, "Ban On Juvenile Life Sentences Without Parole".

I already commented quite a bit gameside, in particular that operative clause (1) on "that person" should have been "that particular person" to make it clearer.

For

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I am for this proposal. This is a very comprehensive way of prohibiting whole-life orders for minors, and that is a goal that is worthy of legislation.

For

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Ban on Juvenile Life Sentences without Parole was passed 9,044 votes to 3,495.