The Court of Appeal is due to hear major challenges to whole-life terms given to some killers.
Five leading judges will consider if jail without parole - currently reserved for "exceptionally" serious offences - is still legally possible.
Last year, the European Court of Human Rights ruled such sentences had to be reviewed at some point.
The sentencing of the two men who murdered Fusilier Lee Rigby has been postponed until after this appeal.
The Court of Appeal case involves two killers currently serving whole-life tariffs.
Lee Newell was already serving a life sentence for murder when he strangled a fellow inmate at Long Lartin Prison.
The second man, Matthew Thomas, murdered one woman before kidnapping and raping another - two months after being released from prison for another rape.
The judges will also hear a referral from the attorney general that a third killer, Ian McLoughlin, received an unduly lenient sentence after killing someone while on temporary release from prison, where he was already serving a sentence for murder.
Controversial rulingAll three cases have come to the Court of Appeal because of a controversial ruling last year by the European Court of Human Rights.
In a case brought by different killers from the UK, the Strasbourg court said that there should be some possibility of having a sentence reviewed - even if it occurs after many decades. Such a review existed in England and Wales until 2003.
Guidelines according to schedule 21 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003:
- A whole life order for "exceptionally" serious offences
- 30 years for the murder of a police or prison officer on duty - and murders involving firearms or explosives; for gain; to obstruct or interfere with the course of justice; involving two or more persons; involving sexual or sadistic conduct; or aggravated by race, religion or sexual orientation
- 25 years where the offender took a knife or other weapon to the scene
- 15 years for all other offences
That decision prompted the judge dealing with McLoughlin to sentence him to 40 years, rather than give him a whole-life term.
The outcome of the appeals could determine the future direction of sentencing for the most serious killers in England and Wales.
There are 52 prisoners serving whole-life terms, including Mark Bridger who was convicted of the 2012 sexually-motivated murder of five-year-old April Jones in Powys.
Judges can consider a whole-life term, known as a tariff, in exceptional cases.
The Criminal Justice Act 2003 says that those cases include killers who have previously murdered before or committed acts involving substantial premeditation or sadistic conduct. People who kill a child for a sexual motive also face a whole-life tariff - as does anyone convicted of a terrorism-related murder carried out for ideological reasons.
The five judges hearing the appeal include Lord Thomas, the Lord Chief Justice. Their decision is expected to be delivered on a later date.
The outcome of the case may have an impact on all 52 whole life prisoners - but it could also affect the sentences to be given to the two men who murdered Fusilier Lee Rigby.
Their sentencing has been delayed until the Court of Appeal issues the new guidance.
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