Interpretation in Criminal Law: Specific Features and Limits

The article deals with the ways of regarding the case law of the European Court of Human Rights as a source of criminal procedural law of Ukraine, which is relevant both in terms of the criminal procedure as a science and for the practice of law enforcement. The purpose of the article is to formulate the concept of the case law of the European Court of Human Rights as a source of criminal procedural law of Ukraine. The paper justifies the opinion that the case law of the European Court of Human Rights is developed and based on the decisions of the European Court of Human Rights and the European Commission of Human Rights, regardless of the country in which they were adopted (i. e. has a polyterritorial jurisdiction over states being the participants of the Convention). The article proves that the case law of the European Court of Human Rights is draws upon the decisions made by the European Court of Human Rights and the European Commission of Human Rights regardless of the time of adoption, i. e. it includes the decisions adopted before Ukraine ratified the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. The author points out the appropriateness of classifying decisions that have acquired the status of final as «case law of the European Court of Human Rights». It is also mentioned that there is a need to include final decisions in the case (as the matter of fact), which have a decisive nature and contain a legal position in this case, into the scope of the category «case law of the European Court of Human Rights». Moreover, the article substantiates the necessity to include the decisions adopted by the European Court of Human Rights in full, i. e. not only the set forth legal positions, into the category of «case law of the European Court of Human Rights». Following the results of the study, the case law of the European Court of Human Rights as a source of criminal procedural law of Ukraine is defined as a set of decisions adopted by the European Court of Human Rights and the European Commission of Human Rights, which have entered into force and contain legal policies which either clarify or specify the provisions of the Convention as for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms and relate to human and citizen’s rights and freedoms.

INTRODUCTION The relationship between human rights and criminal justice has long been considered to be particularly intricate. On the one hand, human rights law may promote change in the criminal justice machinery at both the domestic and international levels. On the other hand, unsuitable national criminal law or wrongful application of the applicable criminal law and procedure provisions may interfere with treaty obligations undertaken by States in respect of human rights. It is therefore of the utmost importance that the existing bond between human rights and criminal justice be clearly defined in the context of the administration of criminal justice so that the objectives of both can be harmonised within the democratic state. In this context, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has played an important role as human rights adjudicator in the field of criminal law. An analysis of the Strasbourg case law on criminal matters reveals that the Convention obligations undertaken by the States are twofold: on one hand, the protection of the individual against the overuse of criminal justice and, on the other hand, the use of criminal law for the protection of the rights and freedoms of individuals and legal persons. The former Belgian Judge at the ECtHR, Francoise Tulkens, described these two aspects as the “the defensive role of human rights” and “the offensive role of human rights” in what she called “the paradoxical relationship between criminal law and human rights”. This contribution aims at exploring the case law of the ECtHR in the light of the traditional “defensive role of human rights”, focusing on the overuse of criminal justice against the individual and, in particular, on the overuse of criminalisation and of imprisonment. In other words, this contribution will revisit some of the cases in which the Strasbourg Court has considered the criminalisation of an act and the recourse to imprisonment to be in breach of a Convention right. OVERUSE OF CRIMINALISATION A manifestation of the overuse of the criminal justice machinery can be first found at the legislative level. When considering the criminal approach to be adopted in relation to a specific conduct, the legislature should take into account that criminal law should only be used as a last resort when no other alternative to a criminal law measure exists.

Activists in international courts: Backlash, funding, and strategy in international legal mobilization

The article explores the main problems of the application by the national courts of the case law of the European Court of Human Rights as a source of law. Analyzing the rules of the law and examining the views of the Supreme Court have highlighted the problematic issues of the obligation to apply the case law of the European Court of Human Rights to national courts as a source of law. The researchers' positions on the obligation of national courts to apply the case law of the European Court of Human Rights in cases against other states are examined and the importance of the application of the case law of the European Court of Human Rights is highlighted. Analyzing the views of scholars and experts, we have proposed ways to address the issues of the binding application of the case law of the European Court of Human Rights by reviewing the plenary sessions of high courts. The problems of the application of the case law of the European Court of Human Rights by national courts, such as the selective application of the case law of the Court, references to general principles and interpretations, ignoring the conditions of their application, absolutization of the binding position of the Court, application of the decisions of the Court by analogy, reference to the practice Court in the presence of clear and consistent provisions of national law, etc. The following ways of solving these problems are proposed: 1) revising the concept and content of the Law of Ukraine "On the implementation of decisions and application of the practice of the European Court of Human Rights" and amending the legislation in order to bring it in line with the provisions of the new procedural legislation and modern ideas of theorists and practitioners about the legal nature of decisions The European Court of Human Rights; 2) preparing a resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Court on the application of the Convention and the case-law of the Court, which should be based on a thorough analysis of the shortcomings and peculiarities of the case-law of the national courts. The problematic issues of the application of the case law of the European Court of Human Rights in the absence of official translations of the Court's decisions are examined. Analyzing the views of scholars and experts, we have proposed ways to solve these problems by creating a single electronic database that will contain official translations of Court decisions in the Ukrainian language that will ensure their accessibility and dissemination.

The article is devoted to the analysis of the stances developed in the case law of the European Court of Human Rights regarding the content, scope, general principles of ensuring the right of access to justice, and permissible limits applied to restrict the right in question. The author has substantiated the conclusion that the European Court of Human Rights associates access to justice with Paragraph 1 of Article 6 of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. Thus, the concept of access to justice includes a number of elements: the right to have recourse to court; the right to have a case heard and resolved in compliance with the requirements of a fair trial; the right to have the judgment enforced; the set of safeguards that allow the person to exercise the rights under consideration effectively. According to the European Court of Human Rights, access to justice should be ensured at all stages including pre-trial (criminal) proceedings and reviewing of court decisions by higher courts. However, the right of access to justice is not absolute. The restrictions imposed must have a legitimate purpose and reasonable proportionality must be obtained between the means used and the goal determined. In view of the requirement mentioned above, the national legislation may provide for the particularities of application of Paragraph 1 of Article 6 of the Convention to proceedings in different types of courts and at different stages, for example, by establishing a certain procedure for the court to grant individuals the right to appeal to a higher court. The author has demonstrated the main directions of applying the legal stances of the European Court of Human Rights regarding access to justice to improve the Russian criminal procedural legislation and law enforcement practices, as well as for further scientific research.

The article examines some aspects of realization of the rule of law principle in the case law of the European Court of Human Rights. The author notes that the principle of the rule of law is a fundamental component of international legal acts regulating human rights and fundamental freedoms. It is emphasized that the Constitution of Ukraine proclaims that the principle of the rule of law is recognized and operates in Ukraine, but the concept of the rule of law itself is not fully disclosed in national legislation. The principle of the rule of law is actually the only effective means of ensuring the inviolability of democracy. The separate elements of this principle as its integral parts and mandatory prerequisites through which the European Court of Human Rights reveals the content of the rule of law was considered. The author provides examples of grouping certain requirements of the rule of law in the case law of the European Court of Human Rights. The author notes that there are no unified approaches to understanding the exact meaning of the rule of law principle either in theory or in practice. The author substantiates that the elements of the rule of law in the case law of the European Court of Human Rights are legality, legal certainty, fairness of a trial and priority of human rights. The main element of the rule of law in the case law of the European Court of Human Rights is legality. The requirement of legality has formal (procedural) and substantive aspects (requirements for the quality of the law). It is noted that the requirement to respect human rights and recognize their priority is key in the case law of the European Court of Human Rights. Cases of human rights restrictions must comply with the principle of proportionality. The provisions of the documents of the Venice Commission on the understanding of principle of the rule are analyzed, the activity of the European Court of Human Rights in ensuring the principle of the rule of law in the process of protection of human rights and freedoms is studied. The author concludes that the case law of the European Court of Human Rights is the basis for understanding the essence of the rule of law as a principle. The author emphasizes that the case law of the European Court of Human Rights has a positive impact on the indicators of strengthening the rule of law in the state, and contributes to the improvement of each individual element of this principle and all of them in aggregate.

The article is dedicated to a comprehensive analysis of the legal nature of the human right to a fair trial, the study of mechanisms for its normative and legal enforcement, and the effectiveness of its implementation through the lens of the case law of the European Court of Human Rights. Particular attention is paid to the systematic interpretation of this right in the context of international human rights standards and its correlation with the national legal systems of the states – parties to the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. The article conducts a doctrinal study of the right to a fair trial, defines its place in the hierarchy of fundamental human rights, and substantiates its absolute nature in the context of the modern concept of human rights. This right is one of the key elements of the rule of law, guaranteeing access to effective judicial protection and ensuring a balance between public and private interests in a legal state. Significant attention is given to analyzing the role of the judiciary as the primary guarantor of the realization of this right, while judicial protection is considered not only as an instrument for restoring violated rights but also as a structural element of the justice mechanism, which determines the democratic principles of the functioning of the state apparatus. The judicial system is obliged to ensure compliance with a set of procedural guarantees that prevent arbitrary restrictions on a person’s rights to access justice and to have their case reviewed objectively. The study identifies the main structural components of the right to a fair trial, including:the right to have a case heard by an independent, impartial, and competent court; the right to equality of arms and adversarial proceedings; the right to legal certainty in judicial decision-making; the right to the openness and publicity of the judicial process; the right to have a case considered within a reasonable time, as an essential element of effective justice. It is noted that access to justice is a prerequisite for the realization of the right to a fair trial. Access to justice is proposed to be understood as a real opportunity, guaranteed by the state and ensured by effective legal mechanisms, for a person to appeal to the court to protect their rights, freedoms, or legitimate interests. It is argued that the primary task of the European Court of Human Rights in every case is to assess the overall fairness of the proceedings. Compliance with the requirements of a fair trial should be considered in each case, taking into account the development of the entire proceedings, rather than based on the isolated examination of one specific aspect or a particular instance. The article also examines the issue of contradictions between national judicial systems and the standards of the European Court of Human Rights, which sometimes necessitate the revision of legal norms at the level of domestic legislation. The case law of the European Court of Human Rights demonstrates that a number of states face difficulties in implementing the Court’s decisions, which negatively affects public trust in the judiciary. It is important to emphasize that the institutional capacity of national judicial systems must correspond to European standards of justice, ensuring that citizens have a real opportunity for effective protection of their rights. Failure to meet such standards can lead to systemic problems in the field of justice and an increased number of appeals to the European Court of Human Rights. In the context of international law, the need for harmonization of national legislation with the requirements of the Convention is emphasized, which would contribute to increasing the effectiveness of the realization of the right to a fair trial. This issue is particularly relevant for countries undergoing judicial system reforms and striving to strengthen its independence. The conclusions of the article emphasize that the human rights protection role of the European Court of Human Rights is a key factor in ensuring legal certainty in judicial practice. The enforcement of its decisions is mandatory for the member states of the Convention, and their disregard may have negative consequences for a country’s international legal reputation. Keywords: effectiveness, legal mechanisms, European court of human rights, fair trial, justice, judicial practice, convention, human rights, access to justice, judiciary, judicial independence, impartiality, equality of arms, adversarial proceedings, legal certainty.

The article is devoted to the study of such sources of electoral law in Ukraine as the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, the first Protocol to the Convention and the case-law of the European Court of Human Rights. The legal nature of these international sources of suffrage in Ukraine is considered. Attention is drawn to the peculiarities of the wording of the right to free election in Article 3 the first Protocol to the Convention. The peculiarities of the application of the above article by the European Court of Human Rights are disclosed. The importance the case-law of the European Court of Human Rights as a source of suffrage in Ukraine is emphasized. This assertion is justified by the fact that the rules of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms and its Protocols are of a general and abstract nature and are interpreted and filled with real meaning in judgments of the European Court of Human Rights, which are of precedent nature. A number of legal positions of the European Court of Human Rights concerning the obligation of the state to organize and hold democratic elections, enshrined in the specific decisions of this international judicial institution, have been analyzed. In the article were covered such legal positions as: the possibility of limiting the suffrage of citizens, provided that such conditions do not interfere with the free expression of the people's opinion on the election of the legislative body; evaluation of the electoral legislation in the light of the political development of the country, taking into account national characteristics; wide discretion of the state in the choice of the electoral system, which will ensure the free expression of the opinion of the people, etc. There are a number of unresolved issues regarding the application of the case-law of the European Court of Human Rights in judicial and administrative practice in Ukraine, one of which is the possible conflict between the case-law of the Court and the rules of Ukrainian law. It is proposed to resolve this conflict at the legislative level. The conclusions focus on the peculiarities of the legal nature of these sources of suffrage in Ukraine. KEY WORDS: sources of suffrage, Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, case-law of the European Court of Human Rights, right to free elections.

The issue of crime provocation is one of the key concerns in the field of criminal procedure and law enforcement practice, as it involves questions of human rights protection and the guarantee of a fair trial. The lack of clear criteria for distinguishing provocation from lawful actions by law enforcement agencies poses a risk to the admissibility of evidence obtained through covert investigative (search) actions. This study aimed to explore legal approaches to defining crime provocation, its implications for the admissibility of evidence in criminal proceedings, and the influence of the European Court of Human Rights case law on the practice of Ukrainian courts and national legislation. The study also sought to identify a balance between ensuring public safety and safeguarding the right to a fair trial. To achieve this aim, methods of comparative analysis, systems approach, legal-logical analysis, and interpretation of legal norms were applied, enabling a comprehensive examination of the issue of crime provocation. The research examined approaches to countering crime provocation in various countries, including the Republics of Lithuania and Latvia, Georgia, the Federal Republic of Germany, and the United States of America. The findings of the study demonstrated that crime provocation constitutes a serious violation of the right to a fair trial under Article 6 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. It also contradicts the principle of the rule of law, as it may result in unlawful judicial decisions. Relevant case law of the European Court of Human Rights concerning crime provocation has been examined, alongside the practice of national courts. Characteristics of incitement to commit a crime have been analysed. The study summarised the European Court of Human Rights approaches to distinguishing lawful law enforcement activities from provocation, as well as the case law of the Supreme Court on this issue. It has been established that the case law of the European Court of Human Rights plays a decisive role in shaping standards for assessing the legality of law enforcement conduct. However, its implementation in Ukraine remains insufficient. The practical value of this study lies in the development of recommendations for improving the legal regulation of control over crime commission measures, which will contribute to enhancing the effectiveness of criminal justice and the protection of human rights

Virtually every child is not immune to entering the justice system and this can happen in a variety of ways, covering all areas of justice from the start of a pre-trial investigation to the execution of a judgment in a civil case. In doing so, the justice system should be structured to take into account the «best interests of the child» as broadly understood and to distinguish it from justice where adults are involved. This requires the state, when organising justice, to create special elements in its system aimed at the «best interests of the child», which can be seen quite clearly in the «special features» of child-friendly justice. Alongside this, the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms and the case law of the European Court of Human Rights is an important benchmark in the protection of human rights, not excluding children’s rights. They cover safeguards for a wide range of rights and in many cases it is through the practice of the Strasbourg Court that important trends in the protection of children’s rights can be seen. As a consequence, an analysis of the case law of the European Court of Human Rights helps to highlight the special features of child-friendly justice, which will contribute to the formation of specific elements, establish their presence (or absence) in practice and the possibility to suggest ways to implement them, both in legislation and in law enforcement practice. A summary of the case law of the European Court of Human Rights in cases involving children’s rights demonstrates to us first and foremost the need for special attention in proceedings involving a child. An analysis of the validity of interference with the various rights guaranteed by the Convention, which does not enshrine separate rights for children, highlights particular elements that need to be enshrined in a child-friendly justice system. The above elements are not an exhaustive list to be considered when implementing child-friendly justice, they may complement each other, depending on the specifics of each situation, and they are a good reference point to be reflected both in legislation and in practice, which may be the subject of further scientific discussion and development. Key words: European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, European Court of Human Rights, child rights, child-friendly justice, best interests of the child.

The article is devoted to the issues of reproductive human rights in the decisions of the European Court of Human Rights and their impact on the practice of law enforcement and constitutional-legal doctrine in Ukraine. It emphasizes that personal reproductive rights are an important element of the system of fundamental human rights. Judicial practice, including the practice of the European Court of Human Rights, has a significant impact on the regulation and implementation of reproductive rights. A priority area for the development of Ukrainian legislation is the study of the possibilities of using judicial practice in the fiel of protection and safeguarding reproductive rights. A key issue in this regard is the scope of the regulating influence of precedential rulings concerning reproductive rights, as reflected in the decisions of the European Court of Human Rights. It is noted that referring to this practice is becoming a common legal practice among participants in judicial and administrative procedures. At the same time, a problem arises in applying judicial practice to relationships that are not independently regulated by law in Ukraine due to the absence of a separate legal act governing assisted reproductive technologies. It is emphasized that such a national legal act should adhere to the principles outlined in the precedential decisions of the European Court of Human Rights related to reproductive rights. The current law enforcement practice of the European Court of Human Rights demonstrates its use of a well-developed methodology for interpretation based on the consensus (legal harmonization) method, i.e., combining the interpretation of international acts and agreements with the practice of member states’ national legal systems. At the same time, the analysis of constitutional interpretations reflected in national legal systems is also important. At the level of constitutional-legal doctrine, it becomes important to form theoretical approaches to understanding the interpretative mechanisms for applying the precedent law of the European Court of Human Rights, specifically in the area of reproductive rights.

The article discusses the impact of the European Convention on Human Rights (‘the Convention’)  and the  case law of the European Court of Human Rights on Estonian law. It gives historical background on the ratification of the Convention and its protocols by Estonia and describes the status of the Convention in the Estonian legal order. It then shows in more detail the impact of the case law of the Strasbourg Court on Estonia’s legislature, executive power, and judiciary and examines the case law pertaining in particular to the historical past, deprivation of liberty, prison conditions, fair trial and length of proceedings, retroactivity, and lack of foreseeability of criminal law, along with the case law on pluralism and civil rights, especially freedom of expression. In addition, the article focuses on the important issue of reopening of a case on national level once the European Court of Human Rights has found a violation and looks at the implementation of judgements of that court by Estonia in general. Additional remarks are made on the Supreme Court of Estonia’s application of the Convention and the case law of the European Court of Human Rights. Finally, the impact of the case law of the Strasbourg Court in relation to Estonia on the general development of precedents with that court is discussed. In conclusion, in relation to the case law of the European Court of Human Rights, it is important to understand that the Court finding a violation of the Convention in respect of Estonia is not so much a condemnation, ‘against’ the country, as a learning opportunity, in a sense, for Estonia’s democracy, rule of law, and human rights protection system. Furthermore, there could well be other difficulties in Estonia that the Court has for various reasons had no opportunity to address. This can be seen in areas wherein the Court has found a violation by another state but wherein a similar problem still exists in Estonia – e.g., in relation to prisoners’ voting rights. It is important to consider a more global picture of the human rights situation. It is unfortunate that in Estonia, especially in the media and for the wider public, little attention is paid still to the case law of the Court with respect to other states.  In general, European law has been well accepted in Estonia, especially the Convention and the case law of the Court. Working from the Estonian examples, one can confirm that the legislature; the executive power, even more so; and, above all, the judiciary of Estonia have recognised well that the Convention is an inseparable part of Estonia’s legal and democratic culture. Estonian courts need to feel that they also are human rights courts, especially in dealing with the facts and Estonian law, domains wherein the Court cannot and should not act as a fourth or first instance. At the same time, the Court should be able to speak not only to the Estonian courts as counterparts but also to the Estonian people. They as well need to understand European human rights law. All in all, Estonia is quite lucky: it does not have particularly worrying human rights problems; not many violations of the Convention are found in respect of Estonia by the Court. Estonian cases have been dealing with more or less the same issues every ordinary democratic country faces, even to a certain extent with problems of a modern, well-advanced society, such as freedom of expression and privacy rights on the Internet. Also the Court has been lucky to have Estonia as an exemplar: a country wherein the Convention system and the Court’s case law have been to a large extent respected and well complied with. But this mutual ‘happiness’, this quite nice two-way street, should not be taken for granted. The Court’s case law is a moving target. It is hoped that all future developments related to the Court will contribute to improvement of the protection of human rights, democracy, and the rule of law all over Europe. Neither Estonia nor any other European country can apply the generally recognised principles by choice ‘in its own way’.  Estonia’s trump in Europe and beyond could be to serve as a model in the protection of human rights. In consideration of its experience, geopolitical location, and size, alongside its investments in education and the historically rooted importance of nurturing intellectual and cultural values, Estonia could be in a very good position to achieve this ambitious goal.&#160

The article aims to identify the rules governing the mutual relationships among the European Court of Human Rights, the Court of Justice, the constitutional courts of EU’s Member States, and the EFTA Court. Its second goal is to determine to what extent their decisions and interpretive conclusions mutually bind these courts. The third goal is to present the approach taken by the Czech Constitutional Court towards the European Court of Human Rights and Court of Justice, and their decisions, on the one hand, and that of the Court of Justice to rulings made by the European Court of Human Rights and the EFTA Court, on the other hand. To find an answer to these questions, the article first analysis the normative settings and the links among individual legal systems and also among these courts. The second part of the article focuses on the case-law of these courts and thus on the reality of their “mutual” decision-making. The author concludes that there is a significant difference between the decisions of the Court of Justice and the European Court of Human Rights. While the former has the power to determine the binding and, therefore correct interpretation of EU law, the latter does not have comparable competence when it comes to the European Convention. Therefore, European Court of Human Rights decisions are only de facto binding. However, in the case law of the Constitutional Court, the exact opposite is the reality. The European Court of Human Rights judgments are unquestioningly respected and followed, while the approach to the Court of Justice’s decisions oscillates between two extremes. Some of its decisions are fully reflected, while others are silently ignored. Similarly, the Court of Justice works differently with the European Court of Human Rights decisions and the EFTA Court. The Czech Constitutional Court and the Court of Justice also have in common that they treat decisions of the European Court of Human Rights (Czech Constitutional Court) and the EFTA Court (Court of Justice) basically like their own.

The study aimed to analyse how the Ukrainian legal system implements the decisions of the European Court of Human Rights, as well as to identify problems and prospects for improving this process. The article used methods of legal analysis of the decisions of the European Court of Human Rights, comparison of national legislation with the European Convention on Human Rights, analysis of the statistics of the European Court of Human Rights, research on the implementation of European Court of Human Rights decisions at the national level, hermeneutics to identify terminological gaps, analysis of the implementation of European standards in the national legal system, and deduction to identify key issues in cases against Ukraine. An analysis of the decisions of the European Court of Human Rights revealed numerous systemic human rights violations in Ukraine, particularly in the areas of conditions of detention, unlawful arrests and lengthy court proceedings. Problems with non-enforcement of court decisions and violations of the rights to liberty and dignity have been confirmed by numerous cases, such as Gongadze v. Ukraine and Kharchenko v. Ukraine. Amendments to the Criminal Code of Ukraine following the decisions of the European Court of Human Rights, in particular the limitation of the term of pre-trial detention, have reduced the number of cases of prolonged detention The study aimed to analyse how the Ukrainian legal system implements the decisions of the European Court of Human Rights, as well as to identify problems and prospects for improving this process. The article used methods of legal analysis of the decisions of the European Court of Human Rights, comparison of national legislation with the European Convention on Human Rights, analysis of the statistics of the European Court of Human Rights, research on the implementation of European Court of Human Rights decisions at the national level, hermeneutics to identify terminological gaps, analysis of the implementation of European standards in the national legal system, and deduction to identify key issues in cases against Ukraine. An analysis of the decisions of the European Court of Human Rights revealed numerous systemic human rights violations in Ukraine, particularly in the areas of conditions of detention, unlawful arrests and lengthy court proceedings. Problems with non-enforcement of court decisions and violations of the rights to liberty and dignity have been confirmed by numerous cases, such as Gongadze v. Ukraine and Kharchenko v. Ukraine. Amendments to the Criminal Code of Ukraine following the decisions of the European Court of Human Rights, in particular the limitation of the term of pre-trial detention, have reduced the number of cases of prolonged detention

Guaranteed by the Constitution of Ukraine and Article 8 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms of 1950, the right to respect for private and family life for those sentenced to life imprisonment, in terms of its implementation and scope, differs from this right for free individuals. But it is undeniable that those sentenced to life imprisonment are not deprived of this right in full. This is consistently emphasized in its practice by the European Court of Human Rights. In addition to private and family life being a natural need of every individual, its realization, particularly in forms such as maintaining and supporting connections with the outside world, is a means of re-socialization for individuals undergoing punishment in the form of life imprisonment. The benchmark for the development of Ukrainian legislation and law enforcement practice is the practice of the European Court of Human Rights. Therefore, the legal positions of the European Court of Human Rights regarding the right to respect for private and family life for those sentenced to life imprisonment should be studied and generalized. The precondition for the further development of any scientific direction is the comprehension of what has already been done by previous researchers. The conducted research has shown that Ukrainian scientific literature has addressed the legal positions of the European Court of Human Rights regarding various aspects of the right to respect for the private and family life of prisoners, broadly understood (including those in custody, sentenced to a certain term of imprisonment, and those sentenced to life imprisonment): 1) the conclusion that the restriction of the right to respect for private and family life for persons deprived of liberty, provided it is lawful, is not incompatible with the Convention; 2) the conditions/criteria for the legality of such restriction, implemented by national authorities; 3) the systematic identification of the main types of violations of the right to respect for family life recorded in the decisions of the European Court of Human Rights regarding convicted persons and persons in custody; 4) special protection of correspondence between an inmate and their lawyer; 5) differentiation of the spheres of application of Article 8 with other articles of the Convention, primarily Article 3; 6) determination of the main trend in the practice of the European Court of Human Rights «in the penitentiary sphere and in the criminal justice system as a whole,» which consists of constantly raising the standards of human rights by the Court; 7) ignoring the need for an individual approach in applying restrictions on the rights of persons deprived of liberty. The analysis of the existing body of scientific literature shows that existing studies are mainly based on the analysis of the European Court of Human Rights practice regarding foreign states and, with one exception, do not distinguish the legal status of those sentenced to life imprisonment among other deprived individuals. Since the publication of the analyzed monographs, 9–10 years have passed. During this time, the European Court of Human Rights has developed a significant body of practice regarding Ukraine, taking into account the Ukrainian context. Therefore, the analysis of the European Court of Human Rights decisions specifically regarding Ukraine should be a priority. Additionally, they should be analyzed in full. Such an analysis will allow, in conjunction with demonstrating the Convention’s standards regarding the right of those sentenced to life imprisonment to respect for their private and family life, to show the systematic and partial problems in this area identified by the European Court of Human Rights in its practice regarding Ukraine.