Chamber judgment concerning Switzerland
22/11/2022
In the case of D.B. and Others v. Switzerland the Court held that there had been a violation of the right to respect for private life of a child born through surrogacy and no violation of the right to respect for family life of the intended father and the genetic father.
The case concerned a same-sex couple who were registered partners and had entered into a gestational surrogacy contract in the United States. The applicants complained that the Swiss authorities had refused to recognise the parent-child relationship established by a US court between the intended father and the child born through surrogacy. The Swiss authorities had recognised the parent-child relationship between the genetic father and the child. The Court stated that the chief feature which distinguished the case from those it had decided before was that the first two applicants were a same-sex couple in a registered partnership. The Court held that for the Swiss authorities to withhold recognition of the lawfully issued foreign birth certificate in so far as it concerned the parent-child relationship between the intended father and the child without providing for alternative means of recognising that relationship, had not been in the best interests of the child. Switzerland had therefore overstepped its margin of appreciation by not making timely legislative provision for such a possibility.
Press release Factsheet: Gestational surrogacy Factsheet: Children's Rights Factsheet: Sexual Orientation Case law of the ECHR and sexual orientation
Due to the interruption of the international postal services to and from the Russian Federation and where the only means of delivery of the Court’s decisions and judgments to the applicants is by post, the Court has exceptionally decided to notify the applicants about decisions and judgments adopted by its Chamber and Committee judicial formations after 1 March 2022 in respect of applications against the Russian Federation only via its HUDOC database.
As announced in the Court’s press release of 29 August 2022, as from 1 September 2022 the Court has returned in some aspects to the normal processing of applications involving Ukraine. Due to the interruption of the international postal services to and from Ukraine, the Court will communicate with applicants via its electronic communication system, eComms. For that purpose, the Court will use the email address provided by the applicants. Regarding specifically the notification of decisions and judgments, where no email address has been provided the Court has exceptionally decided to notify the applicants about decisions and judgments adopted by its Chamber and Committee judicial formations only via its HUDOC database. Decisions adopted by the Single Judge will be notified only to those applicants who have provided an email address. Prior to contacting the Court about the state of the proceedings in a case, applicants are encouraged to consult the Court’s State of Proceedings search tool for further information.
Chamber
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Judgment concerning Georgia
01/12/2022In the case of A.D. and Others v. Georgia the Court held that there had been a violation of the right to respect for private and family life.
The case concerned the complaints by the applicants, transgender men, that they had been unable to obtain legal recognition of their gender because they had not undergone sex reassignment surgery. The Court found that, despite the fact that the right to have one’s sex changed in civilstatus records had existed in Georgia since 1998, there had not apparently been one single case of successful legal gender recognition. The imprecision of the current domestic legislation undermined the availability of legal gender recognition in practice, and the lack of a clear legal framework left the domestic authorities with excessive discretionary powers, which could lead to arbitrary decisions in the examination of applications. Such a situation was fundamentally at odds with the respondent State’s duty to provide quick, transparent and accessible procedures for legal gender recognition.
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Judgment concerning the Republic of Moldova
22/11/2022In the case of G.M. and Others v. the Republic of Moldova, the Court found a violation of the prohibition of inhuman or degrading treatment in both its substantive and its procedural aspects.
The case concerned the imposition of abortions and birth-control measures on three intellectually disabled women, residents in a neuropsychiatric asylum, after they had been repeatedly raped by one of the head doctors there, and the investigation into their complaints.
The Court found that the domestic criminal law had not provided effective protection, and the inquiry had not factored in their vulnerability as intellectually disabled women exposed to sexual abuse in an institutional context.
Factsheet - Persons with disabilities Factsheet: Violence against Women Factsheet: Reproductive Rights
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Official Visits
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Visit by the Minister of Justice and Public Administration of Croatia
30/11/2022
On 30 November 2022 Ivan Malenica, Minister of Justice and Public Administration of Croatia, visited the Court and was received by President Síofra O’Leary. Davor Derenčinović, judge elected in respect of Croatia, and Marialena Tsirli, Registrar of the Court, also attended the meeting.
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Visit by the Minister of Justice of Slovenia
29/11/2022
On 29 November 2022 Dominika Švarc Pipan, Minister of Justice of Slovenia, visited the Court and was received by President Síofra O’Leary. Marko Bošnjak, Vice-President, judge elected in respect of Slovenia, and Marialena Tsirli, Registrar of the Court, also attended the meeting.
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Interim measures
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Request for an interim measure refused concerning France
02/12/2022
The Court has decided not to apply an interim measure requested in the case Medmoune v. France.
The applicants in this case sought a stay of execution of the decision by the medical team to withdraw the life-support treatment being administered to the patient in an intensive care unit following a serious accident.
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Delivered Judgments & Decisions
Forthcoming Judgments & Decisions
06-08/12/2022