Murderers like Jeremy Bamber, Peter Moore and Douglas Vinter had asked the court to rule on whole-life sentences, saying that condemning them to die in prison was “inhuman or degrading treatment” and argued that all sentences should be regularly reviewed.

Jeremy Bamber, who has always protested his innocence, was jailed in 1986 for shooting dead five members of his family. He claimed his schizophrenic sister shot the victims before turning the gun on herself at the family farmhouse.

Peter Moore was convicted of murdering four gay men for his sexual gratification, while Douglas Vinter killed both his wife and a work colleague.

The three men’s legal team argued that any sentence under which the offender’s rehabilitation cannot lead to a review of release breaches articles three, five and seven of the European Convention on Human Rights.

However, the Ministry of Justice defended the sentences.