European Court of Human Rights: Challenging Paternity under Case Law of the European Court of Human Rights

Summary

Résumé

Les affaires relatives à une contestation de paternité ne sont pas nouvelles en Europe. La jurisprudence de la Cour européenne des Droits de l’Homme (CEDH) a statué sur ces affaires bien que le droit de la famille relève en principe de la vie privée. La CEDH s’est exprimée à différentes reprises sur des actions relatives au lien de paternité, en se référant tant aux obligations de l’État qu’au critère de l’intérêt supérieur de l’enfant. Le droit à l’identité de l’enfant a été invoqué dans plusieurs affaires, ce qui a permis à la Cour d’assurer la sécurité juridique des relations familiales, protégeant ainsi les parents qu’ils soient mariés ou non. La présente recherche porte sur les principes établis par la CEDH qui devraient être appliqués par les juridictions nationales tant dans les actions en contestation qu’en établissement de la paternité intentées par le père présumé et biologique.

INTRODUCTION

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has constantly held that resolving questions of disputed paternity falls within the scope of the child's private life. Despite having clear implications for family life, the Court has generally categorised these cases as pertaining to private life.

A child born in wedlock is presumed to have as a father the spouse of the mother. The man who wants to challenge paternity might be obliged to allege before the Court that the wife has been unfaithful, or that he was not present at the time of conception, or that the child's birth was concealed from the father, or put forward other evidence excluding the possibility of paternity, such as a scientific test. Then, the presumption of paternity is rebutted, giving the biological father the opportunity to challenge the presumed paternity.

In Kroon v. Netherlands, the Court concluded that ‘respect for family life requires that biological and social reality prevail over a legal presumption, which flies in the face of both estab ished fact and the wishes of those concerned without actually benefiting anyone’.

Respect for family life or private life implies positive obligations for the State, requiring it to provide the individual with an effective and accessible means by which he can establish whether he is the father of the child.