SC Grand Chamber Adopted Resolution on the Grounds of the ECHR Judgment on a Person Sentenced to Life Imprisonment

On 13 November the Grand Chamber of the Supreme Court reviewed under exceptional circumstances a criminal case as for a person sentenced to life imprisonment for intentional homicide of two individuals committed by a group of persons with extreme brutality.

In its decision in the case Alakhverdian v. Ukraine the European Court of Human Rights stated the violation of sub-item “c” of item 3 and item 1 of Article 6 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms.

Under results of consideration of the convicted person’s claim by the SC Grand Chamber on reviewing the judgments on the basis of establishing by the ECHR the violation of the international commitments on behalf of Ukraine while considering the case in court, the references to evidence obtained with the violation of the Convention and other evidence obtained later on the grounds of this evidence (fruit of the poisonous tree) were excluded from these judgments. In the rest, the judgments remained unchanged.

Follow the link http://www.reyestr.court.gov.ua/, to see the full text of the resolution of the Grand Chamber of the Supreme Court of 13 November 2019 in the case No. 1-07/07 (proceedings 13-36зво19) in the Unified State Register of Judgments.

Note: the doctrine of “fruit of the poisonous tree” was formed by the ECHR in judgments Gafgen v. Germany, Teixeira de Castro v. Portugal, Shabelnik v. Ukraine, Balitskiy v. Ukraine, Nechiporuk and Yonkalo v. Ukraine, Yaremenko v. Ukraine.

Pursuant to this doctrine, if the source of evidence is not appropriate, the whole evidence obtained using it shall be the same. Evidence obtained with substantial violation of human rights and freedoms shall be inadmissible.