I am pleased to announce the publication of my new article, “Between Doctrine and Reality: The Institutional Fragility of the Absolute Prohibition of Torture,” in European Political and Law Discourse. The article addresses one of the foundational principles of European human rights law: the absolute prohibition of torture and inhuman or degrading treatment under Article…
Category: Standards
The Use of Sound Weapons Against Peaceful Demonstrators as a Threat to Human Rights and a Factor Undermining Trust in the Police (Đorović and Others v. Serbia)
On 15 March 2025, Belgrade saw one of the largest peaceful demonstrations in Serbia’s recent history, the culmination of a protest movement that had been building for months after the collapse of a concrete canopy at the railway station in Novi Sad in November 2024, in which people died. Students and a significant part of…
“Proper” Torture: How Ukrainian Society Is Learning to Justify Torture, or the Case of the Odesa Detention Center as a Window into the Abyss
The incident that occurred in the Odesa pre-trial detention centre (SIZO) and that, in a very strange way, came to light and drew the attention of the entire society, is telling and extremely important. Not because it is unique – on the contrary, because it is mundane. It demonstrates the abyss that Ukrainian society has…
Absolute Prohibition in Relative Application: Institutional Impunity for Torture in Ukraine (2022–2026)
Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine has fundamentally transformed the country’s social and legal landscape. Yet what proved truly alarming was not only the external aggressor — inside the state itself, mechanisms of violence inherited from previous decades continued to operate. Torture in police stations, abuse in penitentiary facilities, beatings of conscripts within Territorial Recruitment and…
Tetiana Melnychuk: Rule of Law or Rule of Security – Rethinking Legal Responses еo Organised Crime Amid Hybrid Threats
Organised crime in today’s world is evolving into a decentralised and technologically sophisticated phenomenon, more capable than ever before of penetrating strategically important sectors of public administration, the economy and infrastructure, and of adapting to social crises. At the same time, the distinctions between traditional organised crime and more complex hybrid threats, such as political…
Rent on Prohibition of Sex Work: How State Generates Police Corruption
On 20 May 2026, the Office of the Prosecutor General and the Security Service of Ukraine conducted a large-scale anti-corruption operation targeting the National Police of Ukraine. Investigative actions were carried out simultaneously across three regional police departments – Ivano-Frankivsk, Ternopil, and Zhytomyr oblasts. Five individuals were served with notices of suspicion: the head and…
The Kyiv Tragedy of 18 April 2026: A Criminological and Human Rights Analysis
Holosiivskyi district of Kyiv. A typical Saturday. A busy supermarket. An armed man opens fire on the crowd, then barricades himself inside the building, taking hostages. The result: six dead, over 15 wounded, including a child. A raid was carried out by KORD special forces, and the attacker was neutralised. The weapon used by the…