A North-East convicted killer is challenging the Home Secretary's power to decide how long murderers should spend behind bars.

Murderer John Hope Taylor claims David Blunkett's power to fix "tariffs" in murder cases breaches his human rights.

He has launched a test case - along with another murderer Anthony Anderson - at the Court of Appeal in London.

In a case which pits the sentencing powers of the judges against those of the Home Secretary, the pair argue that Mr Blunkett has no power to fix tariffs longer than those recommended by the judiciary.

Both Hope Taylor and Anderson claim the Home Secretary's power amounts to a violation of their right to a fair and public hearing before an independent and impartial tribunal under Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights.

Taylor, 45, originally from South Shields, was jailed for life at Sheffield Crown Court on January 20 1989 for the murder of Susan McNamara. He strangled his victim after breaking her neck.

The trial judge recommended that he serve a minimum of 16 years, but the then Home Secretary disagreed and set a tariff of 22 years. As prisoners are normally released after serving half their sentences, that was the equivalent of a 44-year sentence.

Anthony Anderson, 39, who is not from the North-East, was convicted of murdering Thomas Walker and Michael Tierney and was jailed at the Old Bailey in May 1988.

In his case, the trial judge recommended a 15-year minimum but the then Home Secretary increased it to 20 years.

Mr Edward Fitzgerald QC, for the pair, argued that the Home Secretary's power to fix tariffs in murder cases was effectively a sentencing role and there was a danger it might be exercised "arbitrarily" or in response to "public clamour".

The two killers are challenging the High Court's decision in February to dismiss their judicial review challenge to the Home Secretary's tariff-fixing power.

But David Pannick, QC, for the Home Office, said Parliament clearly intended that murderers should serve "indeterminate" life sentences to mark out their offence as the most serious possible crime.

The hearing before a high-powered court made up of the Lord Chief Justice, Lord Woolf, Lord Justice Simon Brown and Lord Justice Buxton continues.