The Punitive Cell. Solitary Confinement at the Intersection of Criminology, Law, and Human Rights

Solitary confinement – the isolation of a prisoner from meaningful human contact for twenty-two or more hours per day – remains one of

Castes, Forced Labour, and the Failure to Protect: Petrov v. Moldova – A Landmark Case on Informal Prisoner Hierarchies

1. The applicant alleges that he belonged to the lowest caste of “pariahs” in the informal hierarchy that, according to him, prevails in

Sklyarenko v. Ukraine: Justice Delayed and the Price of Political Ambitions

On 30 April 2026, the European Court of Human Rights delivered its judgment in Sklyarenko v. Ukraine. The Fifth Section unanimously found a

Institutional Darkness: The Inaction of the PCMRU and Odesa SIZO as a Systemic Dysfunction of Penitentiary Oversight (Proceedings in Case No. 420/9112/26)

2 April 2026, the European Court of Human Rights delivered its judgment in Ukrayinskyy and Others v. Ukraine — 42 applicants, correctional colony

The Pre-Trial Centre as an Invisible Source of Harm in the Model of Impersonal State Liability

There is a category of legal issues that are both well-known and systematically ignored. Compensation for non-pecuniary damage caused by unlawful criminal prosecution

“We’re Implementing Reforms — But We Won’t Show You the Statistics”: Odessa Pre-Trial Detention Center Denies Access to Public Information

On 10 April 2026, the Odesa District Administrative Court opened proceedings in Case No. 420/9112/26. The claimant is Dmytro Yagunov, a lawyer, human

Lecture for the Latvian Legal Community: Torture, ECHR Standards, ECtHR Case Law and the Impact of Russian Aggression on the Ukrainian Justice System

I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Latvia for the invitation and for