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Case Law 5410/03 (20/03/2007)

Type: Judgment

Authority: European Authorities: European Court of human rights

Date: 03/20/2007

Subject: The application concerns the refusal by the gynaecology and obstetrics department of a public hospital in Warsaw to terminate Ms Tysiac's third pregnancy which involved a risk to her eyesight. Abortion is prohibited in Poland except for therapeutic purposes. Ms Tysiac considers that she satisfied the statutory conditions for access to abortion on therapeutic grounds. She maintains that the fact that she was not allowed to terminate her pregnancy in spite of the risks to which she was exposed amounted to a violation of Articles 8 (right to respect for private life), Article 13 (right to an effective remedy) and 3 (prohibition of inhuman or degrading treatment) of the European Convention on Human Rights. She further complains that Poland has breached its positive obligation under Article 8 in that no procedural and regulatory framework has been put in place to enable a pregnant woman to assert her right to a therapeutic abortion. Finally, relying on Article 14 (prohibition of discrimination), she alleges that she was discriminated against on the grounds of her sex and her disability.

Parties: Tysiac c/ Polonia

Classification: Art. 4 Inhuman treatments - Degrading treatments - Art. 17 Right to property - Art. 21 Non discrimination - Art. 47 Right to an effective remedy before a tribunal - Fair trial, public hearing