Polyakh and Others v. Ukraine: The Latest Standards of Applicability of Article 8 of the European Convention of Human Rights in Lustration Cases

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The article analyzes the 2019 case "Polyakh and Others v. Ukraine" and the European Court of Human Rights' latest standards regarding the applicability of Article 8 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms of 1950 in lustration cases. In its judgment on the Polyakh case, the Court found a violation of all applicants' right to respect for private life due to the application of lustration measures by Ukraine. Based on the Court's previous practice regarding lustration in Central and Eastern European states and the Council of Europe's practice, it was concluded that the application of lustration measures, such as dismissal coupled with a ban on holding public office for ten years, along with the premature inclusion of the lustrated person's name into a publicly available lustration list, significantly impacts the person's private life. Consequently, Article 8 of the Convention is deemed applicable. If, instead of dismissal, the applicants had been offered a transfer to other less responsible positions or afforded the possibility of employment in the civil service, the Court, due to the reduced impact of the applied lustration measures on the applicants' privacy, would not have invoked Article 8 of the Convention.