Read our Privacy noticeThe government is facing legal action after the United Nations concluded prisoners trapped on indefinite jail terms are being unlawfully detained, The Independent can reveal. The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention called for Britain to urgently act in a scathing legal opinion, issued last month, which found five men handed Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) jail terms had been wronged by the state. It followed a complaint made by campaigners on behalf of the men who served a combined total of 84 years incarcerated under the controversial jail terms, which were outlawed in 2012. Options being considered include reviewing indeterminate sentences, speeding up the deportation of foreign criminals and looking at jail terms for women. A government spokesperson said: “While we cannot comment on individual cases, it is right that IPP sentences were abolished.