Adoption

Case no. [43546/02], ECHR (Grand Chamber), Strasbourg, 22.01.2008, E.B. v. France

Ground: The Articles 8 & 14 of ECHR; prohibition of discrimination; reasonable justification; objective justification; right to respect for private and family life.

The abstract of the Judgment

This case has to do with the violation of the Article 14 (prohibition of discrimination) and of the Article 8 (right to respect for private and family life) of the European Convention on Human Rights. The applicant, E.B., is a French national, at the age of 45 years. She is a nursery teacher and had been living since 1990 with another woman, R., who is psychologist. Her application has to do with the refusal of French authorities to approve the request of the applicant to adopt a child, because of her sexual orientation. She pretends that in every phase of her application on the adoption has encountered the discriminating treatment of the authorities based on her sexual orientation that had interfered in her right to respect for private life. The Court concluded that the sentence of refusal to issue the authorization for adoption was contrary to the Convention and consequently were violated the Articles 8 and 14 of this Convention.