Family Law

(European Court of Human Rights; 7 December 2006)

The Ukrainian authorities prohibited the father from re-entering the Ukraine, on the basis of a request from the mother shortly after the parents' divorce, in which she asserted that the father had threatened to abduct the child and had a violent past. The mother then obtained a court order depriving the father of parental rights, on the basis that he was not actively involved in the child's life. The father was unable to participate in these proceedings because of the prohibition on his entry into the Ukraine. The father's various appeals against both orders were unsuccessful.

There had been a violation of Art 8. The prohibition on the father entering the Ukraine had resulted in the father not being involved in the decision making process to the extent necessary to protect his interests. The State had failed to strike a fair balance between the rights of the husband and the rights of the child.

• Archive
• Judgments