article: Home Secretary Theresa May said the government would make the "minimum possible changes" to comply with a 2010 Supreme Court ruling. She said ministers were "appalled" by the ruling and the bar for appeals would be set as "high as possible". Sex offenders will only be able to appeal 15 years after leaving prison. The Supreme Court ruled that denying offenders the right of appeal was incompatible with their human rights. But shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said the ruling did state that it should be "open to Parliament" to maintain the current position if it saw fit, so long as there was provision in law to review matters in future if it became appropriate to do so. She also said Labour was not convinced the new regime was tough enough to guarantee public safety. "Given the current evidence on repeat sex offending, it is hard to envisage any circumstances in which people will think it is justified to take someone who has been convicted of a serious sex offence off the register," Ms Cooper said. "Yet the home secretary's scheme makes it possible for the police to do exactly that with no appeal for victims or the public, and no consideration of Parliament's views on the wider risks and the importance of a strong precautionary approach." By Norman SmithChief political correspondent, BBC Radio 4 The ruling to allow sex offenders the right to have their names removed from the sex offenders register is one of those issues governments dread. It almost guarantees them sackloads of irate letters and coruscating tabloid headlines. And yet the inevitable row might not be as painful as ministers fear. Firstly, unlike the recent judgement on prisoners' votes, this was a decision made by Britain's Supreme Court, not the European Court of Human Rights. Secondly, it's not clear whether any change in the way the register is managed would require primary legislation, avoiding the possibility of a protracted Parliamentary tussle. And lastly the Scottish government has already implemented the change without suffering undue damage. Andrew Flanagan, chief executive of the NSPCC, said adults who sexually abused children should stay on the register for life, adding: "We can never be sure their behaviour will change." Only individuals sentenced to more than 30 months for a sex-related crime are required to register with police for life. It is estimated that about 24,000 sex offenders who were required to register for life, including paedophiles and rapists, could be affected by the ruling. Qualifying sex offenders are currently required to notify the police of their personal details, any change of address and when they travel abroad. There is no centrally held register of sex offenders in the UK, but the Home Office says the system of notifying the police is commonly known as the sex offenders register. Last year, two convicted sex offenders used human rights laws to challenge the system and won the right to appeal against their life-long registration. The two offenders were a teenager convicted of rape and a 59-year-old man guilty of indecent assault. The teenage boy,
summary: Thousands of sex offenders in England and Wales are set to be given the right to appeal against having to register with the police for life.