ECHR finds that Ukraine violates same-sex couples' rights

In the case of Maimulakhin and Markiv v. Ukraine, the European Court of Human Rights has ruled that the lack of legal recognition and protection for same-sex couples is a violation of the European Convention on Human Rights.

Source: European Pravda, citing the court judgment

Details: The European Court of Human Rights unanimously ruled that there had been a violation of Article 14 (Prohibition of discrimination) of the European Convention on Human Rights in conjunction with Article 8 (Right to respect for private and family life).

The case concerned the legal recognition and protection of same-sex couples in Ukraine.

The Court established, in particular, that the applicants had been treated differently from opposite-sex couples due to the absence of any legal recognition and protection for them, and that their sexual orientation was the only ground for the difference in treatment.

The ECHR believes that the state has not provided any justification for treating the applicants differently. In particular, the broadly worded aim of protecting the traditional family cannot in itself be accepted as a valid ground to justify denying any legal recognition and protection to same-sex couples, the court said.

The court ruled that Ukraine must pay each of the applicants €32 in respect of pecuniary damage, €5,000 in respect of non-pecuniary damage and €4,000 in court costs and expenses.

Background: In late May, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that Romania had violated the rights of same-sex couples by not allowing them to register civil partnerships and ordered it to make this opportunity available.

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