Avenue de l'Europe
Boucke v. Montenegro 
| 2012
The State has an obligation to organise a system of enforcement of judgments that is effective both in law and in practice.
Judgment of the European Court of Human Rights, February 2012
Snežana Boucke had a baby daughter born out of marriage, called Kristina. Ms Boucke obtained a court order saying that Kristina’s father had to pay child maintenance. Thirteen years later, the authorities had still failed to get the father to pay child support. Ms Boucke obtained another court order, but this was not enforced either.
Snežana and Kristina Boucke took their case to the European Court of Human Rights.
The European court ruled that the national authorities had been totally inactive for substantial periods of time, and failed to do enough to have the order enforced. This had breached Snežana and Kristina Boucke’s right to have binding decisions properly enforced.
The government carried out a series of reforms to improve the enforcement of court orders, notably concerning child maintenance. As a result, the government said the average time for child maintenance decisions to be enforced was cut to 90 days.
Child maintenance payments for Kristina Boucke were eventually taken directly from her father’s salary.
Hans Moor was exposed to asbestos during his work in the 1960s and 70s. This gave him cancer, which was diagnosed in 2004. Hans Moor died in 2005, aged 58. Just before his death, Mr Moor had brought a claim for damages against his former employer for failing to take precautions against exposure to asbestos. The claim was continued by his wife and children.
Mrs Airey wanted to be legally separated from her husband, who was allegedly a violent alcoholic. However, there was no legal aid and she could not afford the lawyers’ fees. The European Court of Human Rights ruled that the lack of legal aid effectively denied Mrs Airey access to a court, breaching her basic rights. Legal aid for such cases was introduced in Ireland in the following year.
When she was four years old, Tabitha Mitunga was held by the Belgian authorities for almost two months – without family, friends, or anybody to look after her. She suffered psychological damage and the European 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.
Montenegro
Switzerland
Ireland
Belgium