Guide on Article 8 of the European Convention on Human …

1 Guide on Article 8. of the European Convention on Human Rights Right to respect for private and family life, home and correspondence Updated on 31 August 2019. Guide on Article 8 of the Convention Right to respect for private and family life Publishers or organisations wishing to translate and/or reproduce all or part of this report in the form of a printed or electronic publication are invited to contact for information on the authorisation procedure. If you wish to know which translations of the Case-Law Guides are currently under way, please see Pending translations. This Guide has been prepared under the authority of the Jurisconsult and does not bind the Court. It may be subject to editorial revision.

2 This Guide was originally drafted in English. It is updated regularly and, most recently, on 31 August 2019. The Case-Law Guides are available for downloading at (Case-law Case-law analysis . Case-law guides). For publication updates please follow the Court's Twitter account at Council of Europe/ European Court of Human Rights, 2019. European Court of Human Rights 2/129 Last update: Guide on Article 8 of the Convention Right to respect for private and family life Table of contents Note to 6. I. The structure of Article 8 .. 7. A. The scope of Article 8 .. 7. B. Should the case be assessed from the perspective of a negative or positive obligation? .. 8. C. In the case of a negative obligation, was the interference conducted in accordance with the law ?

3 10. D. Does the interference further a legitimate aim?.. 11. E. Is the interference necessary in a democratic society ?.. 12. F. Relation between Article 8 and other provisions of the Convention and its 13. 1. Private and family life .. 13. a. Article 2 (right to life) and Article 3 (prohibition of torture) .. 13. b. Article 6 (right to a fair trial) .. 14. c. Article 9 (freedom of thought, conscience and religion) .. 15. d. Article 10 (freedom of expression) .. 15. e. Article 14 (prohibition of discrimination) .. 16. 2. Home and correspondence .. 17. a. Article 2 (right to life) .. 17. b. Article 10 (freedom of expression) .. 17. c. Article 13 (right to an effective remedy).. 17. d. Article 14 (prohibition of discrimination).

4 18. e. Article 34 (individual applications) .. 18. f. Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 (protection of property).. 19. g. Article 2 1 of Protocol No. 4 (freedom of movement) .. 19. II. Private life .. 20. A. Sphere of private life .. 20. B. Physical, psychological or moral 21. a. Victims of violence .. 21. b. Reproductive rights .. 22. c. Forced medical treatment and compulsory medical procedures .. 24. d. Mental 25. e. Health care and treatment .. 26. f. End of life issues .. 27. g. Disability issues .. 28. h. Issues concerning burial .. 28. i. Environmental issues .. 30. j. Sexual orientation and sexual life .. 31. k. Professional or business activities .. 31. C. Privacy .. 33. a. Right to one's image and photographs; the publishing of photos, images, and Articles.

5 34. b. Protection of individual reputation; defamation .. 35. c. Data protection .. 38. d. Right to access personal information .. 40. e. Information about one's 41. European Court of Human Rights 3/129 Last update: Guide on Article 8 of the Convention Right to respect for private and family life f. File or data gathering by security services or other organs of the State .. 42. g. Police 43. h. Stop and search police powers .. 45. i. Lawyer-client relationship .. 45. j. Privacy during detention and imprisonment .. 46. D. Identity and autonomy .. 47. a. Right to personal development and autonomy .. 47. b. Right to discover one's 47. c. Religious and philosophical 48. d. Desired appearance.

6 48. e. Right to a name/identity 48. f. Gender 49. g. Right to ethnic identity .. 51. h. Statelessness, citizenship and residence .. 52. i. Marital and parental status .. 53. III. Family 54. A. Definition of family life and the meaning of family .. 54. B. Procedural 55. C. Margin of appreciation in relation to family life .. 55. D. Sphere of application of family 55. 1. 55. a. Marriages not according to custom, de facto cohabitation .. 55. b. Same sex couples .. 56. 2. Parents .. 58. Medically assisted procreation/right to become genetic parents .. 58. 3. Children .. 59. a. Mutual enjoyment .. 59. b. Ties between natural mother and children .. 59. c. Ties between natural father and children.

7 59. d. Parental allowances, custody/access, and contact rights .. 61. e. International child abduction .. 63. f. Adoption .. 63. g. Foster families .. 64. h. Parental authority and State 65. 4. Other family relationships .. 67. a. As between siblings, grandparents .. 67. b. Prisoner's right to contact .. 68. 5. Immigration and expulsion .. 69. a. Children in detention centres .. 69. b. Family reunification .. 70. c. Deportation and expulsion 71. d. Residence permits .. 72. 6. Material 72. 7. Testimonial privilege .. 73. IV. Home .. 73. A. General points .. 73. 1. Scope of the notion of home .. 73. 2. Examples of interference .. 75. European Court of Human Rights 4/129 Last update: Guide on Article 8 of the Convention Right to respect for private and family life 3.

8 Margin of appreciation .. 76. B. Housing .. 76. 1. Property owners .. 77. 2. Tenants .. 78. 3. Tenants' partners/unauthorised 79. 4. Minorities and vulnerable persons .. 79. 5. Home visits, searches and 80. C. Commercial premises .. 83. D. Law 83. E. Journalists' 84. F. Home environment .. 85. 1. General approach .. 85. 2. Noise disturbance, problems with neighbours and other nuisances .. 87. 3. Pollutant and potentially dangerous activities .. 87. V. Correspondence .. 89. A. General points .. 89. 1. Scope of the concept of correspondence .. 89. 2. Positive obligations .. 90. 3. General approach .. 90. B. Prisoners' correspondence .. 91. 1. General principles .. 91. 2. Where interference with prisoners' correspondence may be 93.

9 3. Written correspondence .. 94. 4. Telephone conversations .. 95. 5. Correspondence between prisoners and their lawyer .. 95. 6. Correspondence with the Court .. 97. 7. Correspondence with journalists .. 99. 8. Correspondence between a prisoner and a doctor .. 99. 9. Correspondence with close relatives or other individuals .. 99. 10. Correspondence between a prisoner and other addressees .. 100. C. Lawyers' correspondence .. 100. D. Surveillance of telecommunications in a criminal 102. E. Correspondence of private individuals, professionals and companies .. 104. F. Special secret surveillance of citizens/organisations .. 106. List of cited cases .. 111. European Court of Human Rights 5/129 Last update: Guide on Article 8 of the Convention Right to respect for private and family life Note to readers This Guide is part of the series of Guides on the Convention published by the European Court of Human Rights (hereafter the Court , the European Court or the Strasbourg Court ) to inform legal practitioners about the fundamental judgments and decisions delivered by the Strasbourg Court.

10 This particular Guide analyses and sums up the case-law on Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights (hereafter the Convention or the European Convention ). Readers will find herein the key principles in this area and the relevant precedents. The case-law cited has been selected among the leading, major, and/or recent judgments and decisions.*. The Court's judgments and decisions serve not only to decide those cases brought before it but, more generally, to elucidate, safeguard and develop the rules instituted by the Convention , thereby contributing to the observance by the States of the engagements undertaken by them as Contracting Parties (Ireland v. the United Kingdom, 154, 18 January 1978, Series A no.)