Decision of Constitutional Court of Ukraine on Personal and Family Life of a Person Sentenced to Life Imprisonment: Analysis and Significance

Abstract

The article analyses the decision of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine regarding the unconstitutionality of prohibiting short-term leaves from penitentiary institutions for life prisoners due to exceptional personal circumstances. It is determined that the relevant issues concern the right to respect for private life and the prohibition of discrimination. The international standards of the right to respect for private life and prohibition of prisoner discrimination are examined, particularly the ECtHR practice regarding temporary prison leaves and criminal offences committed during such leaves. National legal norms regulating temporary leave from places of detention are identified. The legal regulation of this issue in European countries where life prisoners are given the opportunity for short-term leave after serving a specific term of punishment is analysed. Scientific trends towards understanding short-term prisoner leave not as a privilege but as an essential tool for rehabilitation and social reintegration are revealed. The CCU's argumentation for recognising the prohibition of short-term leaves for life prisoners as unconstitutional is examined on two parameters: as a disproportionate restriction of the right to private life and as the state's failure to fulfil its positive obligation to ensure rehabilitation opportunities for prisoners. The CCU's proactive position and establishment of high human rights protection standards in this decision are noted. The implementation status of the CCU decision and the draft law providing for short-term leave for life prisoners are analysed. Problematic issues of the relevant legislative initiative are identified. The role of the CCU decision regarding the personal and family life of a person sentenced to life imprisonment for further reform of this punishment in Ukraine is outlined.