| Abstract [eng] |
In order to shed light on the relationship between life imprisonment and human rights, the Master's thesis analyses the historical development of life imprisonment, revealing the changing understanding of life imprisonment and its role in the penal system. It also examines the purpose of life imprisonment in the context of Article 41(2) of the CC and its proportionality to the offences for which it is imposed. It analyses the case-law of national courts, the case-law of the ECtHR and its development, which will help to reveal the problems of life imprisonment, the problematic aspects of the mechanism of commutation of a life sentence to a fixed-term imprisonment provided for in the national law, and the circumstances laid down in the Criminal Law of the Republic of Lithuania, which are to be considered by the court in deciding on the question of commuting the life imprisonment sentence into a term imprisonment. The paper reviews the opinions of legal scholars on the models of commutation of life imprisonment. It also examines the international legislation that sets minimum standards for life imprisonment. This work also analyses the problems of the execution of sentences of prisoners serving life imprisonment, the case law of the ECtHR, and the reports of the CPT and the Seimas Ombudsmen. The problems highlighted in the work are closely related to the difficulties in the resocialisation of convicted persons, which prevent the convicted person from achieving the best possible results and the court from commuting the sentence of life imprisonment of a convicted person. |
