L.Z. and D.Z. v. Italy
Severed family ties between mother and child highlight systemic flaws in juvenile-justice and foster-care systems in Italy.
In the case of L.Z. and D.Z. v. Italy, the Court held that there had been a violation of the right to respect for family life.
The case concerned the severance of the relationship between a biological mother and her child, who had been abandoned on a pavement at birth by his father. Although the mother had taken steps to have the child returned to her, the Italian authorities had declared him abandoned and available for adoption and had then placed him in foster care in accordance with the expedited procedure. Subsequent court orders for the reunification of the mother and child had not been enforced. To date, the child has not been returned to his biological mother and decisions regarding contact arrangements have not been complied with.
The Court noted that the domestic courts had failed to take prompt, practical and appropriate measures to establish effective contact between the first applicant and the child. Then, for some five years, they had “tolerated” the lack of contact between the applicants and the non-enforcement of the decision ordering their reunification. The passage of time had in fact become the key factor in support of keeping the child in the foster family rather than returning him to his mother. That factor had given rise to a fait accompli: the severance of family ties between the first applicant and her child.