Disregard for the best interest of two children - violation of Article 8 ECHR

EUROPE: DUTY TO PROTECT

European Court of Human Rights, judgment, 10 November 2022, I.M. and Others v. Italy (application no. 25426/20)

«The case concerned the allegation by the applicants (a mother and her two children) that the Italian State had failed in its duty to protect and assist them during contact sessions with the children’s father, a drug addict and alcoholic accused of ill-treatment and threatening behaviour during the sessions.
The case also related to the decision of the domestic courts to suspend the mother’s parental responsibility. The courts regarded her as a parent who was “hostile to contact with the [children’s] father”, on the grounds that she had refused to take part in the sessions, citing a history of domestic violence and safety concerns. The Court found in particular that the sessions that had taken place since 2015 had upset the children’s psychological and emotional balance, as they had been obliged to meet their father in an environment where their protection was not guaranteed. Their best interest in not being compelled to take part in sessions held in such conditions had thus been disregarded.
The Court also held that the domestic courts had failed to examine with care the situation of the children’s mother and had decided to suspend her parental responsibility on the basis of her allegedly hostile attitude to the contact sessions and to shared parenting with G.C., without taking into consideration all the relevant factors in the case. The courts had not provided relevant and sufficient reasons to justify their decision to suspend the first applicant’s parental responsibility between May 2016 and May 2019.»

Direct link to the judgment (hudoc.echr.coe.int)
Direct link to the press release (hudoc.echr.coe.int)

Gender Law Newsletter FRI 2023#1, 01.03.2023 - Newsletter abonnieren