C-262/21 PPU, CJEU, 02/08/2021

Jurisdiction, recognition and enforcement of decisions in matrimonial matters and the matters of parental responsibility – Application for return of a child of a young age whose parents have joint custody – Transfer of the child and his mother to the Member State responsible for examining an application for international protection under Regulation (EU) No 604/2013 (Dublin III))

Judge Rapporteur: M. J.–C. Bonichot

C-490/20, CJEU, 14/12/2021

Birth certificate issued by that Member State mentioning two mothers in respect of that child – Refusal by the Member State of origin of one of those two mothers to issue a birth certificate for the child in the absence of information as to the identity of the child’s biological mother – Persons of the same sex not recognised as parents under the national legislation of that Member State of origin

Judge Rapporteur: M. Ilešič

D v. France, ECtHR, 11288/18, 16/07/2020
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2020

The applicants, a married couple and their daughter born in Ukraine via gestational surrogacy, faced a refusal by the French Court of Appeal in 2017 to fully register the Ukrainian birth certificate, listing only the legal father-child relationship - The Court held that the intended mother could establish a legal relationship through adoption, not directly through the foreign birth certificate, in accordance with French law which does not permit gestational surrogacy - The Court found this approach did not violate the child's rights, as the adoption process provided an effective mechanism f

Escobar et al. v. Guatemala, IACtHR, Series C No. 351, 09/03/2018

Absence of proper institutional oversight over and inadequate regulation of adoption procedures – Decision to separate children from their biological family based on discriminatory justifications regarding their economic situation, gender-based stereotypes about parental responsibilities and their grandmother’s sexual orientation

Ageyevy v. Russia, ECtHR, 7075/10, 18/04/2013
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2013

Violation of Article 8 (Respect for family life and private life) - Revocation of adoption while criminal proceedings for suspected child abuse were still pending - Failure adequately to investigate unauthorised disclosure of confidential information or to protect reputation and right to be presumed innocent of parent suspected of child abuse

X and Others v. Austria, ECtHR, 19010/07, 19/02/2013 [GC]
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2013

Impossibility of second-parent adoption in a same-sex couple - Government's failure to provide convincing reasons for the exclusion second-parent adoption in a same-sex couple, while allowing that possibility in an unmarried different-sex couple, deemed necessary for the protection of the family in the traditional sense or for the protection of the interests of the child, amounts to discrimination

Dissenting / Concurring: Josep Casadevall, Ineta Ziemele, Anatoly Kovler, Danutė Jočienė, Ján Šikuta, Vincent A. De Gaetano, Linos-Alexandre Sicilianos / Dean Spielmann

Zaunegger v. Germany, ECtHR, 22028/04, 03/12/2009
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2009

Violation of Article 14 (discrimination) - Inability of father of a child born out of wedlock to obtain joint custody without the mother’s consent - The applicant had been treated differently from mothers or from married or divorced fathers in that he had required his former partner's consent to joint custody

Dissenting / Concurring: Bertram Schmitt

E.B. v. France, ECtHR, 43546/02, 22/01/2008
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2008

Refusal to grant approval for the purposes of adoption, on the ground of the applicant’s lifestyle as a lesbian living with another woman - The Court considered that the reference to the applicant's homosexuality had been, if not explicit, at least implicit, and that the influence of the applicant’s avowed homosexuality on the assessment of her application had been established and, having regard to the foregoing, had been a decisive factor in the decision to refuse her authorisation to adopt - The domestic authorities had made a distinction based on considerations regarding her sexual orien

Dissenting / Concurring: Jean-Paul Costa, Riza Türmen, Mindia Ugrekhelidze, Danutė Jočienė, Boštjan Zupančič, Loukis Loucaides, Antonella Mularoni / Peer Lorenzen, Sverre Erik Jebens

Palau-Martinez v. France, ECtHR, 64927/01, 16/12/2003
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2003

Violation of Article 14 (discrimination) - Placement of children with father, as the mother was a Jehovah’s Witness -  The appeal court had treated the parents differently on the basis of the applicant’s religion, on the strength of a harsh analysis of the educational principles allegedly imposed by the religion

Dissenting / Concurring: W. Thomassen