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The list of applicants and the relevant details of the applications are set out in the appended table. The applicants complained under Article 3 of the Convention of their life sentence with no prospect of release.
FIFTH SECTION
CASE OF FARZIYEV AND OTHERS v. UKRAINE
(Applications nos. 63747/14 and 23 others – see appended list)
JUDGMENT
STRASBOURG
1 April 2021
This judgment is final but it may be subject to editorial revision.
In the case of Farziyevand 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, Deputy Section Registrar,
Having deliberated in private on 11 March 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 under Article 3 of the Convention of their life sentence with no prospect of release.
THE LAW
I. 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.
II. ALLEGED VIOLATION OF ARTICLE 3of 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 reduciblede jureandde 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 Othersv. 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.
III. 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. Having regard 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,
1. Decides to join the applications;
2. Declares the applications admissible;
3. Holds that they disclose a breach of Article 3 of the Convention;
4. Holds that the finding of a violation constitutes in itself sufficient just satisfaction.
Done in English, and notified in writing on 1 April 2021, pursuant to Rule 77 §§ 2 and 3 of the Rules of Court.
Liv Tigerstedt Ivana Jelić
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 |
| 1. | 63747/14 29/08/2014 |
Rustam Zakirovich FARZIYEV 1984 |
Avramenko Gennadiy Mykolayovych Chernigiv |
Chernigiv Regional Court of Appeal 09/08/2004 |
Supreme Court of Ukraine 16/11/2004 |
| 2. | 43270/15 20/10/2015 |
Vasyl Mykolayovych IVASHCHENKO 1961 |
Cherkasy Regional Court of Appeal 28/01/2002 |
Supreme Court of Ukraine 09/07/2002 | |
| 3. | 1212/16 11/12/2015 |
Viktor Ivanovych GOGIN 1949 |
Kapalkina Yevgeniya Olegivna Kyiv |
Court of Appeal of Crimea 30/11/2004 | Supreme Court of Ukraine 28/05/2005 |
| 4. | 3676/16 04/01/2016 |
Daniel Boleslavovych SUKHARSKYY 1981 |
Khmelnytskyy Regional Court of Appeal 21/03/2002 |
Supreme Court of Ukraine 17/09/2002 | |
| 5. | 4942/16 15/12/2015 |
Volodymyr Sergiyovych PEREGUDOV 1989 |
Zayets Sergiy Anatoliyovych Irpin |
Zolotoniskyy Local Court of Cherkasy Region 15/08/2012 |
High Specialised Court for Civil and Criminal Matters 17/12/2013 |
| 6. | 45265/16 20/07/2016 |
Vitaliy Yevgenovych BARANENKO 1976 |
Odessa Regional Court 10/11/2000 | Supreme Court of Ukraine 21/06/2001 | |
| 7. | 50668/16 26/09/2016 |
Mykola Pavlovych SERVETNYK 1967 |
Volyn Regional Court 23/02/1998 |
Supreme Court of Ukraine 31/03/1998 | |
| 8. | 56273/16 21/09/2016 |
Yevgen Mykolayovych AN 1967 |
Poznyak Oleksandr Mykolayovych Kyiv |
Court of Appeal of Crimea 22/02/2006 | Supreme Court of Ukraine 04/05/2006 |
| 9. | 58897/16 01/10/2015 |
Viktor Pavlovych LAVRENYUK 1977 |
Rivne Regional Court of Appeal 01/04/2005 | Supreme Court of Ukraine 22/09/2005 | |
| 10. | 58985/16 22/09/2016 |
Anatoliy Oleksandrovych LUZHYNETSKYY 1972 |
Ternopil Regional Court 21/09/2000 |
Supreme Court of Ukraine 12/12/2000 | |
| 11. | 38459/17 26/06/2017 |
Nikolay Vladimirovich SUZKO 1978 |
Dnipropetrovsk Regional Court of Appeal 17/07/2006 Zaporizhzhya Regional Court of Appeal 09/03/2010 |
Supreme Court of Ukraine 30/01/2007 Supreme Court of Ukraine 01/07/2010 |
|
| 12. | 44620/17 02/06/2017 |
Mikhail Igorevich BELYAYEV 1981 |
Sumy Regional Court of Appeal 14/04/2003 | Supreme Court of Ukraine 02/09/2003 | |
| 13. | 64484/17 07/11/2017 |
Vadim Valeryevich MESTROPYAN 1971 |
Moskovskyy Local Court of Kharkiv 28/02/2013 |
Higher Specialised Civil and Criminal Court of Ukraine 10/06/2014 | |
| 14. | 74946/17 13/10/2017 |
Oleg Mykhaylovych KAZAK 1981 |
Kapalkina Yevgeniya Olegivna Kyiv |
Odesa Regional Court of Appeal 13/04/2005 | Supreme Court of Ukraine 05/07/2005 |
| 15. | 77389/17 01/11/2017 |
Sergey Petrovich KUNITSKIY 1968 |
Lugansk Regional Court of Appeal 01/08/2002 |
Supreme Court of Ukraine 08/04/2003 | |
| 16. | 78615/17 26/10/2017 |
Anatoliy Anatolyevich KOTKO 1973 |
Bespala Tamila Sergiyivna Kharkiv |
Dnipropetrovsk Regional Court of Appeal 03/08/2004 |
Supreme Court of Ukraine 07/12/2004 |
| 17. | 78638/17 26/10/2017 |
Viktor Petrovych SKRYNNYK 1957 |
Sumy Regional Court of Appeal 06/07/2004 | Supreme Court of Ukraine 19/10/2004 | |
| 18. | 78644/17 26/10/2017 |
Albert Ivanovich AGUREYEV 1963 |
Luhansk Regional Court of 29/05/1998 | Supreme Court of Ukraine 25/08/1998 | |
| 19. | 81641/17 29/11/2017 |
Gennadiy Mykhaylovych NOGTYEV 1975 |
Kyiv Local Court 02/06/1997 |
Supreme Court of Ukraine 31/07/1997 | |
| 20. | 82615/17 02/02/2018 |
Ruslan Mikhaylovich PETRENKO 1978 |
Chernigiv Regional Court of Appeal 05/03/2010 |
Supreme Court of Ukraine 06/07/2010 | |
| 21. | 84505/17 09/12/2017 |
Vitaliy Vasilyevich KOSHIK 1981 |
Bespala Tamila Sergiyivna Kharkiv |
Dnipropetrovsk Regional Court of Appeal 16/07/2004 |
Supreme Court of Ukraine 14/12/2004 |
| 22. | 38805/18 01/08/2018 |
Oleksandr Mykolayovych GUBARYEV 1979 |
Sumy Regional Court of Appeal 30/08/2002 | Supreme Court of Ukraine 18/03/2003 | |
| 23. | 16992/20 17/03/2020 |
Anatoliy Anatoliyovych BALYK 1969 |
Khaytov Pavlo Vyacheslavovych Chernigiv |
Kotovskyy City Court of Odessa Region, 18/02/2011 |
N/A |
| 24. | 22467/20 19/05/2020 |
Vladyslav Yaroslavovych LOZINSKYY 1974 |
Revyakin Maksym Oleksandrovych Kharkiv |
Kmelnytsk Regional Court of Appeal 07/09/2006 |
Supreme Court of Ukraine 27/02/2007 |
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