The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has ruled that the Moldovan authorities violated Article 3 (prohibition of inhuman or degrading treatment) and Article 14 (prohibition of discrimination) of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) by failing to respond adequately to a domestic violence case. The applicants in the case complained that the authorities failed to speedily enforce a binding court order designed to offer them protection.
The applicants in the case were a mother and daughter seeking a protection order against the mother’s former husband (the daughter’s father) for domestic violence. They brought the case before the ECtHR because they felt that the authorities did not respond in such a way that was compatible with the ECHR. Their initial application for a protection order was not examined for ten days and the order that was eventually issued was not immediately sent for enforcement by the police. The issuing of the protection order did not take place until September 2011 when their initial application was made in April 2011. The applicants argued that this was an unreasonable delay.
The court held that the Moldovan authorities were well aware of the abuse against the two applicants in this case. It held that the authorities had violated Article 3 of the Convention by not providing effective protection for victims of domestic violence. The courts found the protection offered by the Moldovan authorities was inadequate because they could not provide any protection in the absence of a formal request for such protection. Furthermore to this, the long delay suffered by the applicants in the case to secure a protection order meant that the State of Moldova failed to observe its positive obligations under Article 3 of the Convention.
The applicants also argued that the State of Moldova had failed to comply with Article 14 of the ECHR and the treatment that they received amounted to gender-based discrimination. The court agreed with the applicants on this point and held that the attitude toward these applicants amounted to condoning such violence against women.
The applicants were awarded €15,000.
Click here to read the full judgment. Click here to read a press release about the judgment.
PILA Bulletin readers may recall a similar ECtHR judgment made against the Moldovan State in 2013.