Family Forms and Parenthood

de Andrea Buechler, Helen Keller

The European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) has always had a significant influence on the development of family law in the different European national jurisdictions. However, at a time where family forms have been subject to a profound transformation characterized by the coexistence of a variety of family forms and where, at the same time, national family laws are converging, it is essential to properly understand the ECHR's influence on national family law. This book explains and analyzes in depth the theory and practice of Article 8 ECHR with respect to family forms and parenthood. It examines how judgments of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) are received and implemented in a variety of contracting States (Austria, Croatia, England/Wales, Germany, Greece, Hungary, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland) and how the judgments contribute to the shaping of domestic and European family law. The book concludes with a detailed reflection on the relationship between the case law of the ECtHR and developments in national family law and jurisprudence.--