Judgment concerning Croatia

Human Rights building's main entrance in winter
14/01/25

In the case of Petrović and Others v. Croatia the Court held that there had been a violation of the right to respect for private and family life.

The case concerned three mothers’ suspicions that their new-born children, born between 1986 and 1994, had not become ill and died, as the State-run hospitals alleged, but had been abducted and unlawfully given up for adoption. The Court noted similarities between this case and the case of Zorica Jovanović v. Serbia.

The Court found that Croatia had failed to fulfil its duty (“continuing positive obligation”) with regard to the applicants’ allegations that their babies had been abducted from maternity hospitals and had been given up for unlawful adoption. This being so, the Court found that general measures at national level were required in order to establish a mechanism aimed at providing individual redress to all parents in a similar situation. This mechanism should be supervised by an independent body with adequate powers, capable of providing credible answers regarding the fate of each child and awarding adequate compensation as appropriate.

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