National Restrictions on Gay, Lesbian and Same-Sex Parentage under Review by the European Court of Human Rights

Ass.-Prof. Nikos Koumoutzis

doi:10.5771/9783748966661

Summary

Bans on single-parent adoption by gay and lesbian individuals, second-parent adoption, and cross-border recognition of the parent-child relationship in same-sex couples raise pressing human rights issues. The book charts these phenomena and related ECtHR complaints and rulings. Applying rigorous methodolo-gy, it scrutinises outcomes to hold them accountable to the ECHR’s internal logic, identifying strengths while exposing limits of protection provided by this framework, persistently shaped by concerns of ‘communal morality’. The author is a family law and human rights scholar based in Greece and Cyprus.

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Bibliographic data

Copyright year: 2025
ISBN-Print: 978-3-7560-3281-5
ISBN-Online: 978-3-7489-6666-1
Publisher: Nomos, Baden-Baden
Language: English
Pages: 172
Product type: Book Titles

1. Acknowledgements No access
1. The Focus of the Book No access
2. The Legal Basis of the Review No access
3. The Intensity of the Review No access
4. The Structure of the Book No access
1. 1. 1.1. Fretté v France and E.B. v France No access
  2. 1.2. On Admissibility: Article 14 ECHR and the Right to Single-Parent Adoption under Article 8 ECHR No access
2. 1. 2.1. The Applicant’s Lifestyle No access
  2. 2.2. The Lack of Opposite-Sex Role Model in the Applicant’s Household No access
  3. 2.3. The Lack of Commitment of the Applicant’s Same-Sex Partner to the Adoptive Child No access
3. 1. 3.1. Legitimate Aim No access
  2. 3.2. Proportionality No access
  3. 3.3. A Wide Margin of Appreciation in Fretté – Focusing on Consensus Analysis No access
  4. 3.4. A Narrow Margin of Appreciation in E.B. – Applying the ‘Very Weighty Reasons Test’ No access
  5. 3.5. The Fluctuation of the Margin of Appreciation – Disentangling the Shift from Consensus Analysis (in Fretté) to the ‘Very Weighty Reasons Test’ (in E.B.) No access
4. 4. Concluding Remarks No access
1. 1. 1.1. Gas and Dubois v France and X. and Others v Austria No access
  2. 1.2. On Admissibility: Article 14 ECHR and the Right to Second-Parent Adoption under Article 8 ECHR No access
2. 1. 2.1. The Child’s Need to Grow Up in a Traditional Family Based on Marriage No access
  2. 2.2. The Child’s Need to Grow Up in a Traditional Heterosexual Family No access
3. 1. 1. 3.1.1. The ‘Non-Comparability’ Thesis No access
    2. 1. 3.1.2.1. Advantages for Married Couples as Incentives for Marriage and as a Tribute to Marriage No access
      2. 3.1.2.2. Margin of Appreciation No access
  2. 1. 3.2.1. The Question of Indirect Discrimination under the Doctrine of Thlimmenos v Greece No access
    2. 3.2.2. Case Law on Indirect Discrimination against Unmarried Same-Sex Couples Pre-Gas and Dubois: M.W. v the United Kingdom No access
    3. 1. 3.2.3.1. The Milestone of Taddeucci and McCall No access
      2. 3.2.3.2.1. Indirect Discrimination for Want of a Legitimate Aim: The Scenario of a (Timely) Same-Sex Marriage Abroad No access
        3.2.3.2.2. Indirect Discrimination for Want of Proportionality: The Scenario of No (Timely) Same-Sex Marriage Abroad No access
        3.2.3.2.3. Indirect Discrimination and the ‘Special Status’ of Marriage No access
        3.2.3.2.4. Indirect Discrimination and the ‘Special Status’ of Formalised Relationships No access
4. 1. 4.1. Same-Sex Couples versus Heterosexual Couples Entitled to Second-Parent Adoption: Direct Discrimination? No access
  2. 4.2. The Disruption of Heterosexual Parentage No access
  3. 4.3. The Weight of Heterosexual Parentage No access
  4. 1. 4.4.1. Axiological Paradoxes No access
    2. 4.4.2. Impediments to Law Reform No access
5. 5. Concluding Remarks No access
1. 1. 1.1. Cross-Border Reproduction and Parentage Recognition: Teasing Out the Same-Sex Strand from the Court’s Broader Case Law No access
  2. 1.2. The Child’s Right to Identity as an Overriding Factor in Recognition No access
2. 1. 1. 2.1.1. Recognition of Parentage with the Intended Biological Father No access
    2. 2.1.2. Recognition of Parentage with the Intended (Non-Biological or Biological) Mother No access
  2. 1. 2.2.1. The Trailblazing D.B. and Others v Switzerland and Consequential Rulings No access
    2. 2.2.2. The Extension of the Advisory Opinion’s Personal Scope No access
    3. 2.2.3. The Extension of the Advisory Opinion’s Temporal Scope No access
  3. 2.3. Application to Recognition of Female Same-Sex Parentage No access
  4. 2.4. A Proviso to Recognition: Residence in the Respondent State No access
  5. 1. 1. 2.5.1.1. Paradiso and Campanelli v Italy No access
      2. 2.5.1.2. Valdís Fjölnisdóttir and Others v Iceland No access
    2. 2.5.2. Reasons for Limits No access
    3. 2.5.3. Fragile Family Ties and the Risk of State Removal of the Child No access
    4. 2.5.4. State Obligations after Consolidation of Family Ties No access
3. 1. 3.1. Recognition of Female Same-Sex Parentage for Children Born in the Home Country No access
  2. 3.2. Recognition of Female Same-Sex Parentage for Children Born in the Host Country No access
4. 4. Excursus: Recognition Following Domestic ART No access
5. 5. Concluding Remarks No access
1. Brief Recap No access
2. Same-Sex Parentage as a Persistent Issue No access
3. Compromising with ‘Communal Morality’ No access
List of Cases No access Pages 155 - 158
Bibliography No access Pages 159 - 168
Index No access Pages 169 - 172