Marckx v Belgium
Laws which discriminated against children born outside marriage, by requiring their mothers to take steps to establish legal parentage, breached the right to respect for family life.
Facts
Paula Marckx, an unmarried Belgian woman, gave birth to a daughter, Alexandra. Under Belgian law, a maternal affiliation was not established by the mere fact of birth for a child born outside marriage, and the mother had to formally recognise the child, which gave the child limited rights. She could improve the child's position only by adopting her own daughter. Children born outside marriage also had limited inheritance rights. They complained that the law breached articles 8 and 14.
Legal principle
The European Court of Human Rights held that there had been violations of article 8, alone and in conjunction with article 14. The court said that article 8 makes no distinction between the legitimate and the illegitimate family, and that respect for family life requires the state to act in a manner calculated to allow those concerned to lead a normal family life. This required the law to recognise the legal ties between mother and child from the moment of birth. The difference in treatment between children born inside and outside marriage had no objective and reasonable justification.
Related cases on private and family life (article 8)
- Big Brother Watch v United Kingdom (2021) Application no 58170/13
- Campbell v MGN Ltd [2004] UKHL 22, [2004] 2 AC 457
- Dudgeon v United Kingdom (1982) 4 EHRR 149
- Evans v United Kingdom (2008) 46 EHRR 34
- Goodwin v United Kingdom (2002) 35 EHRR 18
- Hesham Ali v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2016] UKSC 60, [2016] 1 WLR 4799
- HH v Deputy Prosecutor of the Italian Republic, Genoa [2012] UKSC 25, [2013] 1 AC 338
- Huang v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2007] UKHL 11, [2007] 2 AC 167
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