But Lord Woolf was accused of a going back on his word by critics.
Home Secretary David Blunkett said he was pleased Lord Woolf had clarified his position.
Lord Woolf said judges should not be deterred from taking positive action where necessary against government plans.
BBC: NEWS | UK | UK Politics | Ex-chief justice's legal aid fear
Lord Woolf, the top judge, has had to make three attempts to explain new rules on sentencing burglars.
Lord Woolf said there was nothing in the amendment that cut across the government's "good intentions" in this area.
BBC: Government suffers two defeats over Crime and Courts Bill
Presiding judge Lord Woolf, the Lord Chief Justice, suggested that the shot would have had to be "extraordinarily accurate".
Former Lord Chief Justice, Lord Woolf, criticised the scheme, saying it undermined public confidence in the criminal justice system.
Later, peers backed a proposal from the retired senior judge, Lord Woolf, and a former Chief Inspector of Prisons, Lord Ramsbotham.
BBC: Government suffers two defeats over Crime and Courts Bill
Mr Makin has revealed that Lord Woolf believes that "mitigating circumstances" mean Martin should be considered for release in eight years' time.
Judge Alasdair Darroch decided against a prison term in light of Lord Woolf's guidelines, saying first-time offenders could be dealt with by community sentencing.
Lord Woolf stepped down as lord chief justice last September and will soon be spending a month sitting as an appeal court judge in Hong Kong.
BBC: NEWS | UK | UK Politics | Ex-chief justice's legal aid fear
Watch out for three key amendments emanating from the Conservative peer and former Master of the Rolls, Lord Woolf, and the crossbench peer and QC Lord Pannick.
Earlier this month serial burglar Mark Patterson, 42, was spared jail and given an 18-month drugs treatment and rehabilitation order - in line with Lord Woolf's guidelines.
Lord Woolf underlined how he had said plans to deny people a right to appeal to the courts in immigration cases was an "overt challenge to the rule of law".
BBC: NEWS | UK | UK Politics | Ex-chief justice's legal aid fear
Martin's legal team has also been buoyed by what they say is a statement by the Lord Chief Justice, Lord Woolf, that Martin should be considered for release within eight years.
Dr Coleman said Lord Woolf had made it clear that anyone involved in a judicial capacity must declare whether they are freemasons - he said the GMC now complied with this.
Lord Woolf's ruling was driven by his desire to keep the boys out of a young offenders' institution where the conditions were "so corrosive" as to rule out any hopes of a successful rehabilitation.
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