CEDH · CASELAW;JUDGMENTS;COMMITTEE;ENG — 11 mars 2021

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UKRAINE (Application no. 2778/18 and 46 others – see appended list)           JUDGMENT STRASBOURG 11 March 2021         This judgment is final but it may be subject to editorial revision.   In the case of Dembo and Others v. Ukraine, The European Court of Human Rights (Fifth Section), sitting as a Committee composed of:   Ivana Jelić, President,   Ganna Yudkivska,   Arnfinn Bårdsen, judges, and Liv Tigerstedt, Acting Deputy Section Registrar, Having deliberated in private on 18 February 2021, Delivers the following judgment, which was adopted on that date: PROCEDURE 1.     The case originated in applications against Ukraine lodged with the Court under Article   34 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (“the Convention”) on the various dates indicated in the appended table 2.     The Ukrainian Government (“the Government”) were given notice of the applications. THE FACTS 3.     The list of applicants and the relevant details of the applications are set out in the appended table. 4.     The applicants complained of their life sentence with no prospect of release. THE LAW JOINDER OF THE APPLICATIONS 5.     Having regard to the similar subject matter of the applications, the Court finds it appropriate to examine them jointly in a single judgment. ALLEGED VIOLATION OF ARTICLE 3 of the Convention 6.     The applicants complained of their life sentence with no prospect of release. They relied, expressly or in substance, on Article 3 of the Convention, which reads as follows: Article 3 “No one shall be subjected to torture or to inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.” 7.     The Court reiterates that the Convention does not prohibit the imposition of a life sentence on those convicted of especially serious crimes, such as murder. Yet to be compatible with Article 3 such a sentence must be reducible   de jure   and   de facto , meaning that there must be both a prospect of release for the prisoner and a possibility of review. The basis of such review must extend to assessing whether there are legitimate penological grounds for the continuing incarceration of the prisoner. These grounds include punishment, deterrence, public protection and rehabilitation. The balance between them is not necessarily static and may shift in the course of a sentence, so that the primary justification for detention at the outset may not be so after a lengthy period of service of sentence. The importance of the ground of rehabilitation is underlined, since it is here that the emphasis of European penal policy now lies, as reflected in the practice of the Contracting States, in the relevant standards adopted by the Council of Europe, and in the relevant international materials (see Vinter and Others v.   the United Kingdom [GC], nos. 66069/09 and 2 others, §§   59-81, ECHR   2013 (extracts)). 8.     In the leading case of Petukhov v. Ukraine (no. 2) , no. 41216/13, 12   March 2019, the Court already found a violation in respect of issues similar to those in the present case. 9.     Having examined all the material submitted to it, the Court has not found any fact or argument capable of persuading it to reach a different conclusion on the admissibility and merits of these complaints. They are therefore admissible and disclose a breach of Article   3 of the Convention. APPLICATION OF ARTICLE   41 OF THE CONVENTION 10.     Article 41 of the Convention provides: “If the Court finds that there has been a violation of the Convention or the Protocols thereto, and if the internal law of the High Contracting Party concerned allows only partial reparation to be made, the Court shall, if necessary, afford just satisfaction to the injured party.” 11.     Regard being had to the documents in its possession and to its case ‑ law (see, in particular, Petukhov (no. 2), cited above, §   201), the Court considers that the finding of a violation constitutes in itself sufficient just satisfaction. FOR THESE REASONS, THE COURT, UNANIMOUSLY, Decides to join the applications; Declares the applications admissible; Holds that they disclose a breach of Article 3 of the Convention; Holds that the finding of a violation constitutes in itself sufficient just satisfaction. Done in English, and notified in writing on 11 March 2021, pursuant to Rule   77   §§   2 and   3 of the Rules of Court.     {signature_p_2}   Liv Tigerstedt   Ivana Jelić Acting Deputy Registrar   President       APPENDIX List of applications raising complaints under Article 3 of the Convention (life sentence with no prospect of release) No. Application no. Date of introduction Applicant’s name Year of birth Representative’s name and location Name of the trial court Date of the life sentence Judicial decision upholding the conviction     2778/18 04/01/2018 Andriy Adolfovych DEMBO 1963     Kyiv City Court, 27/12/1999 N/A     8520/18 23/04/2018 Denis Yuryevich MELNIKOV 1981     Kharkiv Regional Court of Appeal, 16/08/2011 High Specialised Court for Civil and Criminal Matters, 17/04/2012     20076/18 12/04/2018 Yevgeniy Vladimirovich TALYANOV 1979     Military Court of Appeal of the Western Region, 24/04/2002 Supreme Court of Ukraine, 09/07/2002     20083/18 17/04/2018 Vadym Leonidovych NECHYPURENKO 1977 Zayets Sergiy Anatoliyovych Irpin Kirovograd Regional Court of Appeal, 26/01/2006 Supreme Court of Ukraine, 07/12/2006     22291/18 27/04/2018 Yevgen Oleksandrovych BAGNYUK 1975 Zayets Sergiy Anatoliyovych Irpin Chernigiv Regional Court of Appeal, 24/07/2006 Supreme Court of Ukraine, 20/02/2007     23034/18 07/05/2018 Oleksandr Oleksiyovych VASYLYUK 1967     Kirovograd Regional Court, 14/04/1998 Supreme Court of Ukraine, 09/07/1998     23511/18 02/08/2018 Yuriy Mykhaylovych KONOVALOV 1981     Dnipropetrovsk Regional Court of Appeal, 19/07/2005 Supreme Court of Ukraine, 18/10/2005     24170/18 11/05/2018 Ivan Petrovych DZYADCHENKO 1974 Zayets Sergiy Anatoliyovych Irpin Chernigiv Reginal Court of Appeal 24/07/2006 Supreme Court of Ukraine, 20/02/2007     24461/18 11/05/2018 Sergiy Kostyantynovych TITARENKO 1983 Zayets Sergiy Anatoliyovych Irpin Kharkiv Regional Court of Appeal, 31/03/2009 Supreme Court of Ukraine 08/02/2011   25350/18 27/04/2018 Volodymyr Volodymyrovych MINKO 1965 Zayets Sergiy Anatoliyovych Irpin Chernigiv Reginal Court, 19/03/1999 Supreme Court of Ukraine, 08/06/1999   28059/18 25/05/2018 Stepan Stepanovich LITVIN 1975     Supreme Court of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, 06/10/2000 Supreme Court of Ukraine, 11/01/2001   28163/18 05/06/2018 Stanislav Valeryevich SHTANKO 1972     Dnipropetrovsk Regional Court of Appeal, 31/08/2007 Supreme Court of Ukraine, 22/01/2008   28240/18 26/05/2018 Mykhaylo Vasylyovych GRECHUKH 1982 Zayets Sergiy Anatoliyovych Irpin Ivano-Frankivsk Regional Court of Appeal, 02/03/2005 Supreme Court of Ukraine, 14/06/2005   32752/18 04/07/2018 Oleksandr Petrovych KOVALENKO 1981     Vinnytsya Regional Court, 18/11/2002 Supreme Court of Ukraine, 20/02/2003   33648/18 07/07/2018 Vitaliy Viktorovich TKACHENKO 1979     Sumy Regional Court of Appeal, 25/11/2002 Supreme Court of Ukraine, 04/03/2003   38043/18 02/08/2018 Maksim Aleksandrovich IVANENKO 1978     Sumy Regional Court of Appeal, 16/05/2003 Supreme Court of Ukraine, 09/09/2003   39775/18 10/08/2018 Aleksandr Aleksandrovich BOROTBENKO 1977     Kyiv Court of Appeal, 06/06/2002 Supreme Court of Ukraine, 28/11/2002   40845/18 19/07/2018 Viktor Nikolayevich PONOMARYOV 1972     Sumy Regional Court of Appeal, 14/06/2007 Supreme Court of Ukraine, 16/10/2007   41730/18 03/07/2018 Ivan Ivanovych KARPENKO 1973     Cherkasy Regional Court of Appeal, 24/03/2004 Supreme Court of Ukraine, 12/10/2004   45303/18 12/09/2018 Aleksandr Vladimirovich DIGTYAR 1979     Sumy Regional Court of Appeal, 22/04/2002 Supreme Court of Ukraine, 30/07/2002   45778/18 14/02/2019 Viktor Petrovych SINOGACH 1966     Zarichnyy Local Court of Sumy, 08/12/2014 Sumy Regional Court of Appeal, 11/02/2015 Supreme Court of Ukraine, 04/07/2018   55254/18 14/02/2019 Ruslan Volodymyrovych ARTYUSHENKO 1983     Sumy Regional Court of Appeal, 15/12/2004 Supreme Court of Ukraine, 22/03/2005   56263/18 13/11/2018 Sergey Nikolayevich SHAKHOV 1979     Donetsk Regional Court of Appeal, 02/10/2002 Supreme Court of Ukraine, 03/02/2004   57033/18 20/11/2018 Valeriy Petrovych DATSYUK 1987     Kharkiv Local Court of Kharkiv Region, 30/07/2013 Kharkiv Regional Court of Appeal, 22/10/2013   59345/18 08/12/2018 Vyacheslav Ivanovych POLISHKO 1977     Poltava Regional Court of Appeal, 14/05/2004 Supreme Court of Ukraine, 30/09/2004   7751/19 19/01/2019 Mykhaylo Mykolayovych ZHDANOV 1988 Petruk Viktoriya Yuriyivna Kyiv Donetsk Regional Court of Appeal, 27/03/2008 Supreme Court of Ukraine, 12/05/2008   8148/19 05/01/2019 Mger Lenorovich PETROSYAN 1976     Donetsk Regional Court of Appeal, 03/11/2005 Supreme Court of Ukraine, 18/01/2007   10731/19 03/02/2019 Sergiy Anatoliyovych SAFRONOV 1978     Kirovograd Regional Court of Appeal, 09/04/2004 Supreme Court of Ukraine, 30/09/2004   15611/19 12/03/2019 Volodymyr Oleksiyovych KICHA 1975     Sumy Regional Court of Appeal, 18/06/2008 Supreme Court of Ukraine, 03/02/2009   16699/19 13/03/2019 Sergey Valeryevich ROMANOV 1971     Supreme Court of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, 18/07/1997 Supreme Court of Ukraine, 02/10/1997   16955/19 04/06/2019 Vladimir Mikhaylovich KONONOV 1977     Odessa Regional Court, 18/11/1997 Supreme Court of Ukraine, 07/05/1998   17321/19 20/03/2019 Oleksandr Leontiyovych TYMOSHCHUK 1971     Kyiv City Court, 27/10/1999 Supreme Court of Ukraine, 15/06/2000   21407/19 09/04/2019 Gennadiy Volodymyrovych KAPELKO 1967     Kyiv City Court, 27/08/2000 Supreme Court of Ukraine, 08/02/2001   27033/19 16/07/2019 Andrey Viktorovich ROMASHKEVICH 1962     Obolonskyy Local Court of Kyiv, 02/03/2015 High Specialised Court for Civil and Criminal Matters, 13/04/2016   40236/19 16/07/2019 Mikhail Vitaliyevich BILOTSKIY 1983     Zhytomyr Regional Court of Appeal, 14/04/2009 N/A   41481/19 10/03/2020 Ruslan Anatoliyovych IGLIN 1981 Revyakin Maksym Oleksandrovych Kharkiv Dnipropetrovsk Regional Court of Appeal, 06/01/2005 High Specialised Court for Civil and Criminal Matters, 04/06/2013   45123/19 17/08/2019 Oleksandr Oleksiyovych STUKAN 1958 Bondarenko Viktor Gennadiyovych Lutsk Volyn Regional Court of Appeal, 02/02/2004 Supreme Court of Ukraine, 22/06/2004   54098/19 23/09/2019 Anatoliy Fedorovych BONDARENKO 1966     Cherkasy Regional Court of Appeal, 27/11/2006 N/A   2808/20 02/04/2020 Maksim Viktorovich STEPANENKO 1975 Preobrazhenskaya Oksana Vladimirovna Strasbourg Donetsk Regional Court, 25/09/1997 Supreme Court of Ukraine, 12/02/1998   11213/20 14/02/2020 Oleksandr Valeriyovych IVZHENKO 1977     Donetsk Regional Court of Appeal, 21/07/2006 N/A   11572/20 18/02/2020 Pavlo Oleksandrovych CHEKAN 1979     Kharkiv Regional Court, 15/12/2000 Supreme Court of Ukraine, 26/06/2001   14392/20 10/03/2020 Oleksandr Oleksandrovych NIKOLAYENKO 1982 Ovdiyenko Ganna Volodymyrivna Kharkiv Chernigiv Regional Court, 01/06/2001 Supreme Court of Ukraine, 09/10/2001   14677/20 11/03/2020 Sergiy Sergiyovych KONDRASHYN 1982 Kychenok Andriy Sergiyovych Kyiv Appellate Court of Donetsk Region, 22/04/2002 Supreme Court of Ukraine, 17/04/2003   18095/20 30/03/2020 Vadym Anatoliyovych ZYKOV 1969 Koval Sergiy Volodymyrovych Kovel Kyivskyy Local Court of 11/08/1997 Supreme Court of Ukraine, 29/01/1998   18690/20 07/04/2020 Sergiy Volodymyrovych POMEYCHUK 1980     Odessa Regional Court of Appeal, 16/10/2008 N/A   19959/20 25/04/2020 Volodymyr Oleksandrovych DRUGOV 1964 Kychenok Andriy Sergiyovych Kyiv Sumy Regional Court of Appeal 15/12/2004 Supreme Court of Ukraine 22/03/2005   21015/20 22/05/2020 Igor Stepanovich PETRIKIV 1968 Preobrazhenskaya Oksana Vladimirovna Strasbourg Kherson Regional Court, 27/04/1998 Supreme Court of Ukraine, 07/07/1998