"UK exceptionalism" in the ECtHR’s jurisprudence on irreducible life sentences

ENThe ECtHR’s judgment in Hutchinson v. the United Kingdom brought into question whether the ECtHR was weakening the general principles on irreducible life sentences, and specifically, whether it was applying them more leniently to the United Kingdom (UK). Recent judgments delivered in Matiošaitis and Others v. Lithuania and Petukhov v. Ukraine (No. 2) have demonstrated that the ECtHR has aligned itself with its pre-Hutchinson jurisprudence by adopting a strict scrutiny of the review mechanisms of life sentences in Lithuania and Ukraine. Although this suggests that the general principles were not watered down, the concern about UK exceptionalism in the ECtHR’s jurisprudence on irreducible life sentences has been raised. This paper therefore examines to what extent the ECtHR carried out a softer application of the relevant principles pertaining to an effective and meaningful review mechanism as regards whole life sentences in Hutchinson and discusses why this suggests a UK exceptionalism in the ECtHR’s jurisprudence on irreducible life sentences. In contrasting the ECtHR’s judgments in the cases of Hutchinson, Matiošaitis and Others and Petukhov, this paper argues that with the suspicion of the application of the Convention with ‘double standards’, the ECtHR’s vulnerability to strong political responses risks damaging its legitimacy.