Article 12 of the European Convention on Human Rights
Article 12 of the European Convention on Human Rights provides for the right to marry.[1]
Text
| “ | Men and women of marriageable age have the right to marry and to found a family, according to the national laws governing the exercise of this right | ” |
Application
Article 12 has not been as widely used as Article 8 in arguments for rights regarding family and relationships, but it has played in a role in counter-arguments to sham marriage accusations and it is playing a growing role in challenges to laws regarding same-sex unions.[2]
Case law
- Limitations on marriage found permissible:
- Schalk and Kopf v Austria (2010) — lack of recognition of same-sex marriages
- Klip and Kruger v Netherlands (1997) — measures against marriage of convenience
- Rees v UK (1986), Cossey v UK (1990) — lack of opportunity to a transsexual to marry a person of now-opposite sex
- Limitations on marriage found impermissible:
- F v Switzerland (1987) — ban of marriage before three years after divorce in which the applicant was found responsible
- B and L v UK (2005) — ban of marriage between a man and the former wife of his son during son's and son's mother's lifetime
- Draper v UK (1980) — lack of opportunity to marry for a prisoner
- Christine Goodwin v UK (2002) — lack of opportunity to a transsexual to marry a person of now-opposite sex, Rees overturned
Literature
Harris, David; O'Boyle, Michael; Warbrick, Colin (2009). Law of the European Convention on Human Rights (2nd ed.). New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 549–556. ISBN 978-0-406-90594-9.
References
- ↑ Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms
- ↑ 1 Crown Office Row, Article 12 - Right to marry/found family, UK Human Rights Blog
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