The exercise of parental care of children born out of wedlock and the ECtHR: Reflections on Paparrigopoulos v. Greece
| Author | Andreas-Nikolaos Koukoulis |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/1023263X231154157 |
| Published date | 01 December 2022 |
| Date | 01 December 2022 |
| Subject Matter | Case Notes |
The exercise of parental care of
children born out of wedlock and
the ECtHR: Reflections on
Paparrigopoulos v. Greece
Andreas-Nikolaos Koukoulis
*
Abstract
This contribution analyses the recent judgment of the European Court of Human Rights in
Paparrigopoulos v. Greece and examines its implications for cross-border surrogacy in Europe. This
judgment is significant because it sets new standards in terms of the concept of discrimination
between parents under Article 14 of the European Convention on Human Rights read in conjunc-
tion with Article 8 (right to respect for private and family life). The Court held that there was no
reasonable relationship of proportionality between the preclusion of the applicant’s exercise of par-
ental responsibility and the aim pursued, which had been to protect the best interests of children
born out of wedlock. Finally, this case note critiques the Court’sfindings and examines its likely
impact on the parental care of the child, who was born and remains unmarried by his parents.
Keywords
Article 14, European Convention on Human Rights, European Court of Human Rights,
Paparrigopoulos v. Greece, parental care
1. Introduction
The parental care of a child born out of wedlock is characterized by a significant amount of contro-
versy between the parties. The latest case, the decision of the Grand Chamber in Paparrigopoulos
v. Greece (the Paparrigopoulos case) was issued on 30 June 2022.
1
*
Law School of Athens/Law School of Thrace University
Corresponding author:
Andreas-Nikolaos Koukoulis, Law School of Thrace University, 691 00 Komotini, Greece.
E-mail: koukoulislawoffice@yahoo.gr
1. https://hudoc.echr.coe.int/eng?i=001-218143.
Case Note
Maastricht Journal of European and
Comparative Law
2022, Vol. 29(6) 745–751
© The Author(s) 2023
Article reuse guidelines:
sagepub.com/journals-permissions
DOI: 10.1177/1023263X231154157
maastrichtjournal.sagepub.com
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