3.  The applicant, who is now deceased, was born in 1937 and lived in Paris.
4.  On 23 June 2009 the guardianship judge of the District Court of the 15th Administrative District of Paris placed the applicant, who was then seventy-two years of age, under enhanced protective supervision (curatelle renforcée) for five years, on an initial request from his adoptive daughter. In order to reach her decision, the judge first of all requested the opinions of Dr M.F. and Dr J‑P.B., two specialists, who each drew up a medical certificate, on 25 November 2008 and 14 March 2009 respectively. She appointed M.-C.M as supervisor (see paragraphs 24 to 34 below for further details on the protective supervision system).
5.  The applicant applied to the Paris Regional Court for the lifting of the measure, in the alternative for his placement under ordinary supervision, and in the further alternative for the reduction of the period of supervision to twenty-four months. On 18 December 2009 the Paris Regional Court dismissed those requests. It noted that the report drawn up by Dr R., a neuropsychiatrist whom the applicant had consulted, had ruled out any form of dementia but had confirmed a slight cognitive impairment and some psychological fragility and vulnerability, rendering a protective measure necessary in view of the extent of the applicant’s personal assets. The court agreed with Dr B. that the applicant had previously considered the management of his real property as a hobby, that he no longer had the physical and mental capacities for performing that task, that it was important that he be relieved of the said task of managing his business interests and tax returns, and that, similarly, he should no longer be allowed to dispose of his property. However, the court considered that the measure could be adjusted on the basis of the cognitive impairment noted, allowing him to hold a bank account and a cash withdrawal card.
6.  The applicant requested his supervisor’s authorisation to marry M.S., a friend whom he had known since 1996 and who had become his partner in 2008. The supervisor interviewed M.S. and the applicant, at first separately and then together. They informed her of the importance which they attached to the religious dimension of marriage. On 17 December 2009 the supervisor refused to authorise the marriage on the grounds that she had only known the applicant for a few months and that she therefore lacked the necessary background to authorise a wedding.
7.  By order of 21 December 2009, the guardianship judge ordered a social inquiry, and commissioned the Département Union of Family Associations (the “UDAF”) to gather information on the applicant’s living conditions, lifestyle, social status and circle of friends. The applicant appealed to the Paris Court of Appeal against that order.
8.  On 21 December 2009 the guardianship judge commissioned a medical opinion, on her own initiative, in order to consolidate her knowledge of the case file with an eye to determining the applicant’s capacity to enter into wedlock.
9.  On 18 January 2010 the psychiatrist appointed by the judge drew up a detailed medical certificate concluding that the applicant suffered from intellectual disorders. While noting the applicant’s capacity to consent to marriage, the psychiatrist considered him incapable of dealing with the consequences of his consent in terms of his property and finances. In his report, quoting passages from his interview with the applicant, the psychiatrist gave his personal opinion on the facts of the case, including works carried out by the applicant on his apartment. He also considered that some of the arguments put forward by the applicant in favour of his marriage “bordered on the absurd”, including the fact that his grandmothers had also remarried at an advanced age and that he wanted help in looking after himself and carrying out everyday chores.
10.  On 1 March 2010 the Paris Court of Appeal declared inadmissible the applicant’s appeal against the order of 21 December 2009. It held that it was in the interests of a vulnerable adult for the guardianship judge to take all the necessary action to ensure his protection, bearing in mind that a person under a supervision order can only get married with the authorisation of the supervisor, or failing that, of the judge, who could order a social inquiry or an inspection by a person of his or her choosing. The court noted that that was precisely the option which had been taken by the guardianship judge in issuing two separate orders for a medical examination and a social inquiry.
11.  On 1 June 2010 the UDAF submitted its report. It emphasised that there was a financial stake at the heart of a major family conflict, in which the applicant’s interest and well-being did not seem to be given much consideration. It noted that the applicant’s daughter and M.S. accused each other of being primarily interested in the applicant’s fortune, and that it was unclear whether the latter was being influenced by anyone. The UDAF added that the applicant was deeply affected by the conflict and that he seemed to consider marriage as a way of ensuring that he had someone at his side to assist him and to organise his daily life, and to avoid having to end his life on his own.
12.  On 24 June 2010, after hearing the applicant and his daughter, the guardianship judge dismissed the applicant’s request. While noting that no one disputed the latter’s attachment to M.S., it ruled that that was insufficient to justify authorising the planned wedding. Having pointed out that the applicant and M.S. were former alcoholics and that the applicant was apparently still drinking, the judge stated that he “was therefore only seeking greater safety in  marriage in order to prevent a possible break-up and therefore the risk of ending his life alone”. Furthermore, she considered that the lack of clarity as to the financial implications of the marriage was particularly worrying as the applicant was torn between his daughter and M.S., and financial considerations had manifestly led to a serious conflict between the two, quoting the UDAF’s findings on that point. Without pronouncing on the religious dimension mentioned by the applicant, she concluded that the planned marriage as it stood was not in the applicant’s interests. The applicant appealed.
13.  By judgment of 6 September 2011 the Paris Court of Appeal upheld the guardianship judge’s decision of 24 June 2010. It noted that although the applicant had on several occasions expressed the wish to marry M.S., the serious disorders from which he had been suffering for several years had severely affected his judgment, as noted in the medical certificates of 14 March 2009 and 18 January 2010. Moreover, his anosognosia had prevented him from planning his joint life with his partner, taking account of the financial and legal implications of marriage. Furthermore, while the applicant seemed emotionally attached to his partner, the court noted that since they had been living together the applicant had been managing his affairs in an increasingly unreasonable manner, and his supervisor had not always been able to protect his interests. In particular, the applicant had had work carried out in the family apartment to the tune of 250,000 euros a few months after his wife’s death, and had placed her furniture in storage under somewhat questionable conditions. The court of appeal also noted that a draft handwritten will had been prepared on 14 August 2009 in M.S.’s favour, observing that according to his lawyer’s submissions, the applicant held assets of some 6,000,000 euros and had concluded with his deceased wife a universal community of assets contract. The court of appeal further noted that the applicant’s relations with his daughter, M.D., had seriously deteriorated. The court of appeal concluded that although the inquiries ordered by the guardianship judge had mentioned the applicant’s and M.S.’s mutual affection, the psychopathological turn in his disorders and his failing perception of the realities of his finances were such that he could not give his informed consent to marriage.
14.  The applicant appealed on points of law. In that appeal he also put a request for a preliminary ruling (a “QPC”) on the constitutionality of Article 460 (1) of the Civil Code. He submitted that that provision contravened, in particular, the principle of freedom of marriage by making the marriage of a supervisee subject to the supervisor’s authorisation, or failing that, to that of the guardianship judge.
15.  By decision of 29 June 2012 (no. 2012-260 QPC), the Constitutional Council, noting that the right to marriage was based on Articles 2 and 4 of the 1789 Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen, declared Article 460 (1) of the Civil Code to be in conformity with the Constitution, given that it did not prohibit marriage but rather permitted it with the supervisor’s authorisation, the withholding of which could be brought before a court, which was required to organise adversarial proceedings followed by a reasoned decision, against which an appeal also lay. The court also considered that, having regard to the personal and pecuniary obligations stemming from marriage, the latter was an important civil act with which the said restrictions on freedom of marriage did not interfere disproportionately.
16.  On 5 December 2012 the Court of Cassation dismissed the applicant’s appeal on points of law. On the one hand, it noted that the Constitutional Council had declared Article 460 (1) of the Civil Code constitutional, and on the other, held that the Paris Court of Appeal had lawfully reasoned its decision by analysing not only the relevant medical certificates but also the other documents on file, thus enabling it to deduce that the applicant was incapable of providing informed consent to his marriage owing both to the psychopathological evolution of his disorders and to his loss of control over the realities of his financial situation.
17.  On 15 February 2016 counsel for the applicant informed the Court of his client’s death on 4 February 2016.
18.  On 6 September 2016 he informed the Court of M.S.’s intention to pursue the application. The Registry of the Court invited the Government to present their comments on that development.