The Council of Europe’s Department for the Execution of Judgments of the European Court of Human Rights has issued a new thematic factsheet on the execution of ECHR judgments concerning life imprisonment. Here is a brief description:
”The European Court has noted that, although the European Convention on Human Rights does not
prohibit the imposition of a life sentence on persons convicted of especially serious crimes, in order for
the sentence to be compatible with Article 3 of the Convention, it must be reducible de jure and de facto.
This means 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. In this regard, the importance of assessing the progress made by
prisoners towards 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.
Under the Court’s case-law, the criteria and conditions laid down in domestic law that pertain to the
review must have a sufficient degree of clarity and certainty. Prisoners who receive a full life sentence are
entitled to know from the outset what they must do in order to be considered for release and under what
conditions. The Court has noted clear support in the relevant comparative and international materials for
an initial review no later than twenty-five years after the imposition of sentence, with periodic reviews
thereafter.
The present Thematic Factsheet provides examples of general and individual measures reported by States
in the context of the execution of the European Court’s judgments, focusing on the following specific
issues relating to life sentences: review mechanisms; conditions of detention; risk of irreducible life
sentences in cases of extradition; the right to respect for family life and correspondence; and legal
remedies to challenge length of criminal proceedings and lawfulness of detention.”
