The dismissal of an action to establish paternity lodged outside the time-limit without a valid reason did not breach the Convention

EUROPE: FAMILY LAW

European Court of Human Rights, judgment, 19 October 2021, Lavanchy v. Switzerland (Application no. 69997/17).

«The case concerned the Swiss courts’ refusal to allow an exception to the time-limit laid down by domestic law (one year from the date of reaching the age of majority) for bringing an action to establish a legal parent-child relationship, and the consequent dismissal of the applicant’s action seeking to have the relationship with her biological father recorded in the civil-status register. The applicant complained of the fact that the Swiss authorities had not acknowledged the existence of a “valid reason” for not complying with the time-limit, and alleged a breach of her right to respect for her private life on that account. The Court noted that the Swiss courts’ decisions had been carefully reasoned, taking the Court’s case-law into account. In particular, the courts had identified several points during the applicant’s life when she could have consulted the details concerning her parentage in the civil-status register and sought information about the steps to be taken, even after expiry of the time-limit. Those considerations led the courts to conclude that there had been no justification for the applicant’s inactivity over a 31-year period. The Court therefore considered that the delay on the applicant’s part in bringing proceedings to establish a legal parent-child relationship, as noted by the domestic courts, could not be regarded as justifiable for the purposes of the Court’s case-law. Hence, the Swiss courts had not failed in their obligation to strike a fair balance between the interests at stake.»

Direct link to the judgment (hudoc.echr.coe.int)
Accès direct au communiqué de presse (hudoc.echr.coe.int)
Direct link to the press release (hudoc.echr.coe.int)

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