The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) on Tuesday condemned Russia for having refused to same-sex couples to marry, pointing to the absence
of “intention to modify its law on the question
”.
According to an ECHR judgment, the refusal of any form of legal recognition and protection constitutes a "
violation of the right to respect for private and family life
", guaranteed by the European Convention on Human Rights in its article 8.
Requests that would go against “established national traditions”
Since 2009, three same-sex couples had submitted marriage applications to civil status offices in Russia.
The latter had refused, justifying their decision by Russian law which defines marriage as “
the conjugal union freely consented to between a man and a woman
”.
The couples were then repeatedly dismissed by higher courts which ruled that they went “
against established national traditions
”.
Decisions that led these six people to seize the ECHR in 2010 and 2014.
In its judgment, the Court based in Strasbourg (France) recalls having already rejected in previous decisions concerning Moscow "
the argument of the (Russian) government that the majority of Russians disapprove of homosexuality
".
According to her, democracy implies “
a balance which ensures minority individuals fair treatment
” and which avoids “
any abuse of a dominant position
”.
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The ECHR adds that the case law on Article 8 requires Member States “
to provide a legal framework
” allowing same-sex couples to benefit from “
adequate recognition and protection
”.
However, “
the Court notes that the respondent State did not express before it the intention of modifying its domestic law in order to allow same-sex couples to benefit from official recognition and from a system of protect
”.
Moscow is no longer part of the Council of Europe and the European Convention on Human Rights since September 16, 2022 but must continue to execute the judgments of the ECHR relating to cases prior to its exit.