Avenue de l'Europe
Zaunegger v. Germany 
| 2009
It is a great satisfaction for me that this great suffering and the powerlessness that I have felt for years, now lie behind me.
Horst Zaunegger, reported by the German Press Agency, quoted by Süddeutsche Zeitung
Horst Zaunegger had a daughter. He was not married to the mother. When the couple separated, Mr Zaunegger was refused joint custody of their child. This was because, as the couple had not been married, joint custody could only be granted if the mother agreed to it, or if the child’s well-being was threatened.
Mr Zaunegger applied to the Strasbourg court, claiming that the law amounted to unjustified discrimination and breached his right to family life.
The court noted that, when a married couple separated in Germany, the father did not require the mother’s permission to be awarded joint custody of children. This meant that the law unfairly discriminated against fathers of children born out of marriage, compared to fathers of children born within marriage – in breach of Mr Zaunegger’s basic rights.
In 2013 the law was changed so that, if a parent of a child born out of marriage applies for joint custody, this will be granted as long as this is not against the child’s best interests.
When she was four years old, Tabitha Mitunga was detained by the Belgian authorities for almost two months – without family, friends, or anybody assigned to look after her. She suffered psychological damage and the Strasbourg court ruled that her rights had been violated. Her case highlighted the need for better protections for unaccompanied children in Belgium and led to substantial reforms.
In February 1992, over 25,000 people living in Slovenia were automatically stripped of their residency rights. Many of them – including Mustafa Kurić – had their papers taken away, were evicted from apartments, could not work or travel, lost personal possessions or lived in poor conditions. The law was changed and a compensation scheme set up after a ruling from the European Court of Human Rights.
David Norris suffered from anxiety attacks and depression after realising that any open expression of his homosexuality could lead to a criminal prosecution. The Strasbourg court ruled that the criminalisation of his sexuality breached his basic rights. In 1993, this led to the full legalisation of homosexual acts between consenting adults under Irish law.
When Vladimír Zavřel’s wife left the family home, she took the couple’s six-year-old son and prevented Vladimir from seeing him. Vladimir got a court order for contact with his boy, but the authorities failed to enforce it. The European court ruled that this had violated the right to family life. Contact was re-established and the law was changed to prevent similar situations happening again.
Mentally handicapped Miss Y. was subjected to sexual abuse the night after her sixteenth birthday. Y.’s father tried to bring a criminal prosecution against the attacker, but Dutch law stated that only the victim could start such a prosecution. Y.’s condition meant she was incapable of doing this, so her attacker was not brought to justice. The European court ruled that this violated her basic...
Loreta Valiulienė told the authorities that she had been attacked by her partner. However, the public prosecutor repeatedly failed to investigate properly, until the case became time-barred and the partner never faced justice. The European court ruled that these failures had violated Ms Valiulienė’s basic rights. A series of reforms were carried out to combat domestic violence in Lithuania.
Cvetan Trajkoski tried to report a dangerous situation to the police. He was then allegedly beaten by a group of officers – apparently because he had parked his car in the wrong place. The European court ruled that the authorities had failed to properly investigate the alleged attack. This and other cases led to reforms to ensure proper investigations of alleged police brutality.
Elisaveta Talpis’s husband physically abused her for years. She complained to the police, but they took no action for months. One night Elisaveta’s husband attacked her with a knife, wounding her and killing her son when he tried to intervene. The European court condemned the police’s inaction, leading to reforms to address domestic violence in Italy.
In September 2004, over 330 people were killed (including over 180 children) and 750 injured in the Beslan hostage crisis. The authorities had had enough information to know that there would be an upcoming terrorist attack, but had not increased security or warned the public. Due to this shortcoming and others, the European Court ruled that the authorities had failed to properly protect the...
Sergey Solovyev lost three years of his life in a cell, after being falsely accused of manslaughter. At one point his detention was extended without an order from a judge and contrary to Russian law. The European court ruled that Mr Solvyev’s right to liberty had been breached. Russia changed its criminal laws to prevent unlawful detention orders and protect the right to liberty.
Gregor Šilih was 20 when he died in hospital. His parents believed that medical negligence was to blame. They launched legal proceedings to find out the truth. Thirteen years later their claim had still not been resolved. The European court ruled that the authorities had failed to take effective steps to discover the truth. The case led to reforms to prevent the same thing from happening again.
When Karol Rummi’s husband died, his valuable possessions were arbitrarily confiscated by the police. When Mrs Rummi tried to get them back, she was not allowed to make her case in court and told that the property now belonged to the state. The European court ruled that her right to property had been breached. She was compensated and the law was changed to prevent similar problems happening again.
For decades, Cypriot law criminalised homosexual relationships between men. Alecos Modinos suffered from strain, apprehension and fear of prosecution due to his relationship with another man. The European court ruled that the criminalisation of Alecos’ sexuality violated his basic rights to a private life. In 1998, Cyprus decriminalised homosexual relationships.
After the fall of communism in Romania, laws were passed giving people the right to claim back property nationalised by the old regime. Tens of thousands of people made such claims, but a huge number faced delays and failures to deal with their applications. The European court ruled that the system must be reformed – leading to a new law which made the restitution system more effective.
Paula Marckx was unmarried when she had a baby girl. Paula was shocked to discover that, because she was single, her child would not be recognised as being hers unless she went through a legal process. Even after this, her daughter would have a reduced legal status and would not inherit from her. The European court ruled this violated their right to family life – leading to a change to Belgian...
Wrongfully accused of murder and attempted burglary, Andrzej Leszczak was detained for almost three years before finally being acquitted at trial. The European court ruled that the Polish authorities had not given proper reasons for holding Mr Leszczak and had not explored different ways of making sure he attended his trial. Following a series of such cases, Poland changed laws to protect...
Three Greek air force officers were members of the Pentecostal Church. They were all convicted for promoting their religion and given suspended prison sentences of over a year. The European court ruled that convicting the men for these conversations with civilians had violated their right to religious freedom. The Greek government took steps to ensure that no such prosecutions happened again.
Four Ukrainians formed a group to help protect their local environment. However, when they tried to register their association the authorities refused, relying on administrative technicalities. The group had to dissolve. The European court ruled that this had violated the group’s right to freedom of association. In 2013 a new Law on Civil Associations created proper rules to protect such groups.
Dana Kontrová repeatedly warned the police that her husband was violent and unstable. One day the police failed to take action after being told the man was threatening his family with a shotgun. Two days later he murdered his children before committing suicide. The European court ruled that the authorities had failed in their duty to protect the children, violating the right to life.
Aged 24, Hoda Jabari was suspected of adultery in Iran. The crime could be punished by stoning to death. Ms Jabari fled to Istanbul. However, the Turkish authorities decided to send her back. The European court prevented her from being returned to face a possible stoning. Ms Jabari was allowed to stay in Turkey and eventually leave to seek a new life Canada.
Germany
Belgium
Slovenia
Ireland
Czech Republic
Netherlands
Lithuania
North Macedonia
Italy
Russian Federation
Estonia
Cyprus
Romania
Poland
Greece
Ukraine
Slovak Republic
Turkey