On January 17, 2017, the European Court of Human Rights ruled in Hutchinson v. the United Kingdom that whole life sentences in the United Kingdom are compatible with Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).  According to the press release, the case concerned a man serving a whole life sentence for murdering three of his family members and raping another. The man alleged “that his sentence amounted to inhuman and degrading treatment as he had no hope of release,” in violation of Article 3 of the ECHR due to discrepancies in U.K. law regarding review of such sentences. The Court stated that whole life sentences are not in violation of Article 3 if there exists “both a prospect of release for the prisoner and a possibility of review of their sentence.”  The court determined that a recent U.K. ruling had dispelled the lack of clarity regarding the scope and manner of the review of sentences as well as the obligation of the Secretary of State to release prisoners when their whole life sentence can no longer be justified.