| Applicant name | Toader |
| Applicant type | Natural person |
| Number of applicants | 1 |
| Country | Romania |
| Application no. | 22415/22 |
| Date | 12/03/2024 |
| Judges | Tim Eicke, President, Branko Lubarda, Ana Maria Guerra Martins |
| Institution | Court |
| Type | Judgment |
| Outcome Art. 8 | Violation |
| Reason | Positive obligation |
| Type of privacy | Private life |
| Keywords | Dissability benefit |
| Facts of the case | The application concerns the applicant’s complaint that the domestic authorities had wrongly assessed the severity of her disability, thus depriving her of the possibility of benefitting from a personal assistant, which in turn had drastically reduced her personal autonomy. |
| Analysis | The Neamț Commission issued a certificate establishing that the applicant’s medical situation did not qualify as a disability under the criteria set out in Ministerial Order. The Court cannot but observe that those findings seem to be fundamentally at odds with the applicant’s particular situation as explained in detail in the report. In particular, the applicant’s right to autonomy and respect for her dignity do not appear to have been taken into account in the domestic assessments. Moreover, no consideration was given by the authorities to the applicant’s age. Bearing in mind what was at stake for the applicant, as well as her overall vulnerability – which required enhanced protection from the authorities, and notwithstanding its subsidiary role and the respondent State’s margin of appreciation, the Court is not convinced that in their decisions, the Commission and the Court of Appeal struck a fair balance between the competing public and private interests at stake as required by Article 8. |
| Other Article violation? | No violation 8+14 |
| Damage awarded | Holds (a) that the respondent State is to pay the applicant, within three months, EUR 10 000 (ten thousand euros), plus any tax that may be chargeable, in respect of non-pecuniary damage, to be converted into the currency of the respondent State at the rate applicable at the date of settlement; |
| Documents | Judgment |