On 22 January 2013, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) in Lashin v Russia, ruled that a blanket ban on the right to marry for persons under guardianship is incompatible with the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). It is the first case in ECHR jurisprudence to address the right to marry by persons with psycho-social disabilities.
Under Russian law a person deprived of legal capacity automatically loses the right to marry, the right to vote, and the right to decide where and whom to live with.
The claimant, who was diagnosed with schizophrenia, complained that in 2000 the Russian Courts deprived him of his legal capacity, committed him to a psychiatric hospital against his will and without possibility of review in 2002 - 2003 and that this had prevented him from getting married.
The applicant, represented by the Mental Disability Advocacy Centre (MDAC), relied on Article 5 (1) & (4) ECHR (right to liberty and security / right to have lawfulness of detention decided speedily by a court) and Article 8 ECHR (right to respect for private and family life). They also had argued a violation of Article 12 ECHR which guarantees the right to marry and found a family.
The ECtHR found that there was a violation of Article 5 (1), Article 5(4) and Article 8.
The judgment sends a clear message to the Russian authorities that the existing ban on marriage for persons deprived of legal capacity is incompatible both with the European Convention and the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD).
Click here to read the judgment in full
PILA bulletin readers may remember that in October last year, the ECtHR upheld the rights of people with psycho-social disabilities in a series of judgments. Click here to read a previous bulletin article on these judgments
Click here to read a press release from the mental disability advocacy centre