ABSTRACT
The right to review will be protected under the law if procedures meeting the requirements of the review are available in the domestic laws of Contracting Parties of the European Convention of Human Rights. This chapter discusses the development of the law of the European Convention of Human Rights relating to compliance of domestic laws with the requirement of review under Article 3. It conducts a detailed analysis of the English compassionate release law which was recognised as a procedure meeting the mentioned requirement of Article 3. Analysis demonstrates that loose executive powers such as this are not capable of meeting the requirements of the right to review of continued imprisonment either in whole life cases or on grounds of old age and serious illness. When the power to decide over the liberty of an individual is vested in the executive which at the same time is responsible for administration of the punishment, the fundamental principle of separation of powers which provides a necessary guarantee against abuse of powers is violated. This deficiency cannot be remedied even by the most rigorous judicial review, because the requirements of Article 5(4) cannot be met through aggregate remedies.
