Strasbourg, 27/06/2014 (Agence Europe) - France, as we know, has recently been wracked by a number of public debates and will now have to address two decisions delivered one after the other this week by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).
In a case brought by the parents, one of the sisters and a half brother of Vincent Lambert, a tetraplegic patient who has been kept alive for five years at the Centre hospitalier universitaire de Reims, the ECHR immediately called on the French government to suspend implementation of the decision made by the French Council of State on 23 June authorising the withdrawal of food and water to the 38-year-old man who is in a state of minimum consciousness. The emergency and provisional procedure in place in this case is provided for in the ECHR rules in “exceptional circumstances… and in cases where there is a real risk of suffering serious and irreversible damage”. This will not affect the final decision, which will be taken on the basis of the entirety of the case, following a hearing of the different parties and thorough examination of the request. This procedure could take years to implement but will, in this precise case, be treated “as swiftly as possible” stated the Court in Strasbourg.
With regard to the “Mennesson versus France” and “Labassée versus France” cases, the decisions delivered on 26 June represent a clear decision against France for refusing to register the births in the Civil Registry of children born to a surrogate mother abroad, in this case, in the US, for the three girls involved, but does not give an opinion on the decisions made by the French authorities to ban surrogacy. At the centre of the judges' decision is the right of children to an identity under the terms of Article 8 of the European Convention of Human Rights and respect for private and family life. The judges stated that “identity is an integral part of the notion of a private life” and the prevailing interest of the child should guide legislators when there is “a worrying uncertainty about having the right to French nationality recognised”. The decision by the ECHR could still be opposed by France, which would mean that there is a strong likelihood that these cases would appear before the 17 judges from the Grand Chamber but in the long-term they will oblige the country to guarantee children born by surrogate mothers abroad the right to become French and to have a parentage link, under the law guaranteeing respect for private life. The Socialist government is afraid that an amendment to the law could be interpreted by organisations, such as “La Manif pour tous”, as a first step towards legalisation of surrogacy. (VL)