FIFTH SECTIONCASE OF DEMBO AND OTHERS v. UKRAINE(Application no. 2778/18 and 46 others – see appended list)     JUDGMENTSTRASBOURG11 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:PROCEDURE1.  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 table2.  The Ukrainian Government (“the Government”) were given notice of the applications.THE FACTS3.  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 APPLICATIONS5.  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 Convention6.  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 CONVENTION10.  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 JelićActing Deputy Registrar President   APPENDIXList of applications raising complaints under Article 3 of the Convention(life sentence with no prospect of release)No.Application no.Date of introductionApplicant’s nameYear of birthRepresentative’s name and locationName of the trial courtDate of the life sentenceJudicial decision upholding the conviction   2778/1804/01/2018Andriy Adolfovych DEMBO1963  Kyiv City Court,27/12/1999N/A   8520/1823/04/2018Denis Yuryevich MELNIKOV1981  Kharkiv Regional Court of Appeal,16/08/2011High Specialised Court for Civil and Criminal Matters, 17/04/2012   20076/1812/04/2018Yevgeniy Vladimirovich TALYANOV1979  Military Court of Appeal of the Western Region,24/04/2002Supreme Court of Ukraine, 09/07/2002   20083/1817/04/2018Vadym Leonidovych NECHYPURENKO1977Zayets Sergiy AnatoliyovychIrpinKirovograd Regional Court of Appeal,26/01/2006Supreme Court of Ukraine, 07/12/2006   22291/1827/04/2018Yevgen Oleksandrovych BAGNYUK1975Zayets Sergiy AnatoliyovychIrpinChernigiv Regional Court of Appeal,24/07/2006Supreme Court of Ukraine, 20/02/2007   23034/1807/05/2018Oleksandr Oleksiyovych VASYLYUK1967  Kirovograd Regional Court, 14/04/1998Supreme Court of Ukraine, 09/07/1998   23511/1802/08/2018Yuriy Mykhaylovych KONOVALOV1981  Dnipropetrovsk Regional Court of Appeal,19/07/2005Supreme Court of Ukraine, 18/10/2005   24170/1811/05/2018Ivan Petrovych DZYADCHENKO1974Zayets Sergiy AnatoliyovychIrpinChernigiv Reginal Court of Appeal24/07/2006Supreme Court of Ukraine,20/02/2007   24461/1811/05/2018Sergiy Kostyantynovych TITARENKO1983Zayets Sergiy AnatoliyovychIrpinKharkiv Regional Court of Appeal,31/03/2009Supreme Court of Ukraine08/02/2011 25350/1827/04/2018Volodymyr Volodymyrovych MINKO1965Zayets Sergiy AnatoliyovychIrpinChernigiv Reginal Court,19/03/1999 Supreme Court of Ukraine,08/06/1999 28059/1825/05/2018Stepan Stepanovich LITVIN1975  Supreme Court of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea,06/10/2000Supreme Court of Ukraine,11/01/2001 28163/1805/06/2018Stanislav Valeryevich SHTANKO1972  Dnipropetrovsk Regional Court of Appeal,31/08/2007Supreme Court of Ukraine,22/01/2008 28240/1826/05/2018Mykhaylo Vasylyovych GRECHUKH1982Zayets Sergiy AnatoliyovychIrpinIvano-Frankivsk Regional Court of Appeal,02/03/2005Supreme Court of Ukraine,14/06/2005 32752/1804/07/2018Oleksandr Petrovych KOVALENKO1981  Vinnytsya Regional Court,18/11/2002 Supreme Court of Ukraine,20/02/2003 33648/1807/07/2018Vitaliy Viktorovich TKACHENKO1979  Sumy Regional Court of Appeal,25/11/2002Supreme Court of Ukraine,04/03/2003 38043/1802/08/2018Maksim Aleksandrovich IVANENKO1978  Sumy Regional Court of Appeal,16/05/2003Supreme Court of Ukraine,09/09/2003 39775/1810/08/2018Aleksandr Aleksandrovich BOROTBENKO1977  Kyiv Court of Appeal,06/06/2002Supreme Court of Ukraine,28/11/2002 40845/1819/07/2018Viktor Nikolayevich PONOMARYOV1972  Sumy Regional Court of Appeal,14/06/2007 Supreme Court of Ukraine,16/10/2007 41730/1803/07/2018Ivan Ivanovych KARPENKO1973  Cherkasy Regional Court of Appeal,24/03/2004Supreme Court of Ukraine,12/10/2004 45303/1812/09/2018Aleksandr Vladimirovich DIGTYAR1979  Sumy Regional Court of Appeal,22/04/2002Supreme Court of Ukraine,30/07/2002 45778/1814/02/2019Viktor Petrovych SINOGACH1966  Zarichnyy Local Court of Sumy,08/12/2014Sumy Regional Court of Appeal,11/02/2015Supreme Court of Ukraine,04/07/2018 55254/1814/02/2019Ruslan Volodymyrovych ARTYUSHENKO1983  Sumy Regional Court of Appeal,15/12/2004Supreme Court of Ukraine,22/03/2005 56263/1813/11/2018Sergey Nikolayevich SHAKHOV1979  Donetsk Regional Court of Appeal,02/10/2002Supreme Court of Ukraine,03/02/2004 57033/1820/11/2018Valeriy Petrovych DATSYUK1987  Kharkiv Local Court of Kharkiv Region,30/07/2013Kharkiv Regional Court of Appeal,22/10/2013 59345/1808/12/2018Vyacheslav Ivanovych POLISHKO1977  Poltava Regional Court of Appeal,14/05/2004Supreme Court of Ukraine,30/09/2004 7751/1919/01/2019Mykhaylo Mykolayovych ZHDANOV1988Petruk Viktoriya YuriyivnaKyivDonetsk Regional Court of Appeal,27/03/2008Supreme Court of Ukraine,12/05/2008 8148/1905/01/2019Mger Lenorovich PETROSYAN1976  Donetsk Regional Court of Appeal,03/11/2005Supreme Court of Ukraine,18/01/2007 10731/1903/02/2019Sergiy Anatoliyovych SAFRONOV1978  Kirovograd Regional Court of Appeal,09/04/2004Supreme Court of Ukraine,30/09/2004 15611/1912/03/2019Volodymyr Oleksiyovych KICHA1975  Sumy Regional Court of Appeal,18/06/2008Supreme Court of Ukraine,03/02/2009 16699/1913/03/2019Sergey Valeryevich ROMANOV1971  Supreme Court of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea,18/07/1997Supreme Court of Ukraine,02/10/1997 16955/1904/06/2019Vladimir Mikhaylovich KONONOV1977  Odessa Regional Court,18/11/1997 Supreme Court of Ukraine,07/05/1998 17321/1920/03/2019Oleksandr Leontiyovych TYMOSHCHUK1971  Kyiv City Court,27/10/1999Supreme Court of Ukraine,15/06/2000 21407/1909/04/2019Gennadiy Volodymyrovych KAPELKO1967  Kyiv City Court,27/08/2000Supreme Court of Ukraine,08/02/2001 27033/1916/07/2019Andrey Viktorovich ROMASHKEVICH1962  Obolonskyy Local Court of Kyiv,02/03/2015High Specialised Court for Civil and Criminal Matters,13/04/2016  40236/1916/07/2019Mikhail Vitaliyevich BILOTSKIY1983  Zhytomyr Regional Court of Appeal,14/04/2009N/A 41481/1910/03/2020Ruslan Anatoliyovych IGLIN1981Revyakin Maksym OleksandrovychKharkivDnipropetrovsk Regional Court of Appeal,06/01/2005High Specialised Court for Civil and Criminal Matters,04/06/2013 45123/1917/08/2019Oleksandr Oleksiyovych STUKAN1958Bondarenko Viktor GennadiyovychLutskVolyn Regional Court of Appeal,02/02/2004Supreme Court of Ukraine,22/06/2004 54098/1923/09/2019Anatoliy Fedorovych BONDARENKO1966  Cherkasy Regional Court of Appeal,27/11/2006N/A 2808/2002/04/2020Maksim Viktorovich STEPANENKO1975Preobrazhenskaya Oksana VladimirovnaStrasbourgDonetsk Regional Court, 25/09/1997Supreme Court of Ukraine, 12/02/1998 11213/2014/02/2020Oleksandr Valeriyovych IVZHENKO1977  Donetsk Regional Court of Appeal,21/07/2006N/A 11572/2018/02/2020Pavlo Oleksandrovych CHEKAN1979  Kharkiv Regional Court, 15/12/2000 Supreme Court of Ukraine, 26/06/2001 14392/2010/03/2020Oleksandr Oleksandrovych NIKOLAYENKO1982Ovdiyenko Ganna VolodymyrivnaKharkivChernigiv Regional Court,01/06/2001Supreme Court of Ukraine, 09/10/2001 14677/2011/03/2020Sergiy Sergiyovych KONDRASHYN1982Kychenok Andriy SergiyovychKyivAppellate Court of Donetsk Region,22/04/2002Supreme Court of Ukraine,17/04/2003 18095/2030/03/2020Vadym Anatoliyovych ZYKOV1969Koval Sergiy VolodymyrovychKovelKyivskyy Local Court of 11/08/1997Supreme Court of Ukraine,29/01/1998 18690/2007/04/2020Sergiy Volodymyrovych POMEYCHUK1980  Odessa Regional Court of Appeal,16/10/2008N/A 19959/2025/04/2020Volodymyr Oleksandrovych DRUGOV1964Kychenok Andriy SergiyovychKyivSumy Regional Court of Appeal15/12/2004Supreme Court of Ukraine22/03/2005 21015/2022/05/2020Igor Stepanovich PETRIKIV1968Preobrazhenskaya Oksana VladimirovnaStrasbourgKherson Regional Court, 27/04/1998Supreme Court of Ukraine, 07/07/1998