EIT: Kuuromykän isän ja hänen lapsensa tapaamisoikeutta oli rajoitettu EIS 8 artiklaa loukkaavalla tavalla

Euroopan ihmisoikeustuomioistuin (EIT) katsoi tänään antamassaan tuomiossa, että lapsen etua ei ollut riittävällä tavalla huomioitu oikeudenkäynnissä, jossa kuuromykkä isä oli vaatinut tapaamisia tuolloin viisivuotiaan lapsensa kanssa laajennettavaksi viikoittaisesta kahdesta ädin läsnäollessa tapahtuneesta tunnista. Vanhempien huonot välit olivat tällaisessa tilanteessa omiaan heikentämään isän ja lapsen välisen suhteen kehittymistä, ja kansallisten tuomioistuinten olisi tullut harkita muita keinoja isän ja lapsen välisen kommunikaation varmistamiseksi kuin äidin läsnäolo tapaamisissa.

EIT:n lehdistötiedotteesta:

In today’s Chamber judgment in the case of Kacper Nowakowski v. Poland (application no. 32407/13) the European Court of Human Rights held, unanimously, that there had been:

a violation of Article 8 (right to respect for private and family life) of the European Convention on Human Rights.

The case concerned the contact rights of a deaf and mute father with his son, who also has a hearing impairment. Mr Nowakowski, the applicant, complained in particular about the dismissal of his request to extend contact with his son.

The Court found in particular that, even though the parents’ strained relationship had admittedly not made the Polish courts’ task an easy one when deciding on contact rights, they should nonetheless have taken measures to reconcile the parties’ conflicting interests, keeping in mind that the child’s interests were paramount. The courts had notably not properly examined the possibilities which existed under domestic legislation of facilitating the broadening of contact between Mr Nowakowski and his son. Moreover, they had failed to envisage measures more adapted to Mr Nowakowski’s disability, such as obtaining expert evidence from specialists familiar with the problems faced by those with hearing impairments. Indeed, the courts had relied on expert reports which had focused on the communication barrier between father and son instead of reflecting on the possible means of overcoming it.

Koko lehdistötiedote löytyy täältä: here