Avenue de l'Europe
Johnston and Others v. Ireland 
| 1986
The absence of an appropriate legal regime reflecting [Nessa's] natural family ties amounts to a failure to respect her family life.
Judgment of the European Court of Human Rights, December 1986
Nessa Williams-Johnston lived with her mother and father. Her parents had been unable to marry, as her father had been married previously and there was no right to divorce at the time.
This meant there was no way for Nessa to be legally recognised as her father’s daughter.
Nessa had the legal status of an illegitimate child, and her parents worried that this gave her no right to parental support or inheritance.
The European court found that there were no laws in place to recognise Nessa’s family ties with her two parents. This breached her right to private and family life, and the rights of her two parents.
Ireland brought in the Status of Children Act 1987. This put children born outside of marriage in a similar legal position to children whose parents were married. It protected children’s rights to guardianship, maintenance and property rights.
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.
In February 1992, 25,671 people in Slovenia were automatically stripped of their right to live there. Many people – including Ana Mezga - had their papers taken away, were evicted from their homes, could not work, lost personal possessions or had their families broken apart. The law was changed and a compensation scheme set up after a ruling from the European Court of Human Rights.
M.D. lost custody of her two children after the authorities found that her former partner had been beating them and she had not protected them. M.D. then ended her relationship with the abusive partner and tried to get her children back. However, under Maltese law she had lost custody of the children forever, and she had no way to challenge this in the national courts.
Ireland
Belgium
Slovenia
Malta