FIFTH SECTION
CASE OF DEMBO AND OTHERS v. 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 LAWJOINDER 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 TigerstedtIvana Jelić
Acting Deputy RegistrarPresident
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
Full & Egal Universal Law Academy