| Applicant name | BELUCH |
| Applicant type | natural person |
| Number of applicants | 1 |
| Country | Poland |
| Application no. | 4065/21 |
| Date | 28/09/2023 |
| Judges | Ivana Jelić, President, Krzysztof Wojtyczek, Erik Wennerström |
| Institution | Court |
| Type | Judgment |
| Outcome Art. 8 | Violation |
| Reason | Positive obligation; decision making process |
| Type of privacy | Relational privac; procedural privacy |
| Keywords | Access to child |
| Facts of the case | The application concerns enforcement of the applicant’s contact rights in respect of his daughter X, born in January 2010. The applicant, together with his son from a previous relationship, had lived with X’s mother, M.M., for more than five years prior to X’s birth. He left M.M. soon after X was born. |
| Analysis | The Court notes that the applicant twice requested the domestic court to impose fines on M.M. for her failure to comply with contact orders. The decisive question is whether or not the Polish authorities took all appropriate steps that could reasonably be demanded to facilitate the enforcement of contact arrangements as defined in the contact orders. The Court reiterates that in cases of this kind the adequacy of a measure is to be judged by the swiftness of its implementation. The Government did not submit any explanation for the delays in the examination of the applicant’s requests. Thus the Court concludes that, notwithstanding the State’s margin of appreciation, the Polish authorities failed to make adequate and effective efforts to enforce the applicant’s right to contact with his child. |
| Other Article violation? | No |
| Damage awarded | that the respondent State is to pay the applicant, within three months, the following amounts, to be converted into the currency of the respondent State at the rate applicable at the date of settlement: (i) EUR 6,000 (six thousand euros), plus any tax that may be chargeable, in respect of non-pecuniary damage; (ii) EUR 2,500 (two thousand five hundred euros), plus any tax that may be chargeable to the applicant, in respect of costs and expenses; |
| Documents | Judgment |