FIFTH SECTION
 
 
 
 
 
 
CASE OF LEITNER v. AUSTRIA
 
(Application no. 55740/10)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
JUDGMENT
 
 
STRASBOURG
 
8 June 2017
 
 
 
This judgment is final but it may be subject to editorial revision. In the case of Leitner v. Austria,
The European Court of Human Rights (Fifth Section), sitting as a Committee composed of:
 Erik Møse, President,
 Yonko Grozev,
 Gabriele Kucsko-Stadlmayer, judges,
and Milan Blaško, Deputy Section Registrar,
Having deliberated in private on 16 May 2017,
Delivers the following judgment, which was adopted on that date:
PROCEDURE
1. The case originated in an application (no. 55740/10) against the Republic of Austria lodged with the Court under Article 34 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (“the Convention”) by an Austrian national, Mr Hermann Leitner (“the applicant”), on 21 September 2010. 2. The applicant was represented by Mr F. Rifaat, a lawyer practising in Vienna. The Austrian Government (“the Government”) were represented by their Agent, Mr H. Tichy, Head of the International Law Department at the Federal Ministry for Europe, Integration and Foreign Affairs. 3. The applicant alleged, in particular, under Article 8 read in conjunction with Article 14 of the Convention that he was discriminated against, compared to the mother, regarding the granting of custody for their children. 4. On 17 April 2014 the complaint under Article 8 read in conjunction with Article 14 of the Convention was communicated to the Government and the remainder of the application was declared inadmissible pursuant to Rule 54 § 3 of the Rules of Court. THE FACTS
I. THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE CASE
5. The applicant was born in 1961 and lives in Blumau. 6. The applicant and his former partner, S.O., have two children, born out of wedlock in 2002 and 2004 respectively. S.O. always had sole custody of the children as the parents never agreed to have joint custody. The applicant and S.O. never cohabited on a permanent basis. The children lived with their mother during the week. At weekends, the whole family usually stayed at the applicant’s house. 7. In April 2008 S.O. and the applicant separated and the children remained with their mother. 8. On 27 June 2008 the applicant lodged an application with the Vienna Inner City District Court (Bezirksgericht Innere Stadt; hereinafter, “the District Court”) to transfer sole custody to him, or to grant him joint custody together with S.O. Furthermore he applied for an interim measure concerning his visiting rights, as he had not seen his children since 20 April 2008. 9. On 8 October 2008 the parents agreed that the applicant would be able to see his children every second Monday from 2.30 pm or 3 pm until 6 pm and every second Saturday from 10 am until 6 pm. 10. On the same day the applicant applied for an extension of his visiting rights to the whole weekend. 11. After five visits from the applicant in October and November 2008, S.O. unilaterally stopped further visits, claiming that these had a negative influence on the children. Between November 2008 and Easter 2009, on his own initiative, the applicant secretly went to see his children at their school and kindergarten a few times. 12. The Vienna Juvenile Court Assistance Office (Jugendgerichtshilfe) submitted its statement on 10 March 2009 and recommended maintaining sole custody for the mother and visiting rights for the applicant according to the agreement the parents had concluded on 8 October 2008. 13. On 6 April 2009 the District Court decided to grant the applicant visiting rights on every second Saturday from 8 am until 7 pm. It dismissed the applicant’s application for sole custody. 14. In its reasoning the court held that the children were well cared for by their mother. According to Article 176 of the Civil Code (Allgemeines Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch) as in force at the relevant time, a transfer of custody was only possible if the children’s best interest was at risk. In the present case the court found no such risk and the applicant actually had not claimed such a risk. The court further held that the visiting rights were decided in accordance with the parents’ mutual agreement. 15. The applicant appealed on 14 April 2009 and argued in essence that he was discriminated against, compared to the mother. Also, he complained that the court had not decided on the question of whether the parents could be awarded joint custody. 16. According to the applicant’s submissions, his visiting rights were resumed on 24 April 2009 in the amount determined by the District Court (see paragraph 13 above). 17. On 28 July 2009 the Vienna Regional Court (Landesgericht) dismissed the applicant’s appeal as unfounded. It confirmed the reasoning of the District Court and held that there was no indication of a risk to the children’s best interest if the mother maintained sole custody. It further held that there was no provision in law ordering a preference for granting one of the parents sole custody. The court also found that the parents had not mutually agreed on joint custody, therefore no further issues arose in this connection. 18. The applicant lodged an extraordinary appeal with the Supreme Court (Oberster Gerichtshof) on 10 November 2009, again claiming that he was discriminated against compared to the mother and that the decision of the lower instances violated his rights under Article 8 of the Convention. 19. On 1 September 2010 the Supreme Court rejected the applicant’s extraordinary appeal for lack of an important issue of law. 20. After the amendment of the Civil Code (see paragraph 22 below), the applicant on 5 February 2013 again applied for joint custody, or sole custody in the alternative. Shortly after, S.O. moved with the children to the south of Austria, about 400 kilometers from Vienna. The applicant’s requests for sole or shared custody were finally dismissed by the Supreme Court on 7 May 2014. II. RELEVANT DOMESTIC LAW AND PRACTICE
21. The relevant provisions of the Civil Code in the version in force at the material time have been summarized in the case of Sporer v. Austria (no. 35637/03, §§ 37-38, 3 February 2011). 22. On 28 June 2012 the Constitutional Court (case no. G114/11) repealed the sentence “The mother shall have sole custody of an illegitimate child” of Article 166 Civil Code as unconstitutional. As a consequence, on 1 February 2013 an amendment of the relevant provisions of the Austrian Civil Code came into force. According to the amended Article 177 of the Civil Code, the mother still has sole custody of her child born out of wedlock. However, parents can be granted joint custody of a child born out of wedlock if it is in the best interest of the child and one parent has applied for transfer of custody or participation in custody. It is no longer necessary for the mother to agree on joint custody. THE LAW
I. ALLEGED VIOLATION OF ARTICLE 14 OF THE CONVENTION TAKEN IN CONJUNCTION WITH ARTICLE 8
23. The applicant complained under Article 8 alone and read in conjunction with Article 14 of the Convention that he was discriminated against compared to the mother regarding the grant of custody of their children and that there had been a violation of his right to respect for his private and family life. Article 8, in so far as relevant, provides:
“1. Everyone has the right to respect for his private and family life ... 2. There shall be no interference by a public authority with the exercise of this right except such as is in accordance with the law and is necessary in a democratic society in the interests of national security, public safety or the economic well-being of the country, for the prevention of disorder or crime, for the protection of health or morals, or for the protection of the rights and freedoms of others.”
Article 14 reads as follows:
 “The enjoyment of the rights and freedoms set forth in [the] Convention shall be secured without discrimination on any ground such as sex, race, colour, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, association with a national minority, property, birth or other status.”
A. The parties’ submissions
24. The applicant submitted that, as a father, he did not have the opportunity under Austrian law, as in force at the relevant time, to participate in the decision-making concerning his children’s education or upbringing. He complained that mothers were favoured by the law when it came to custody of illegitimate children. 25. The applicant pointed out that as a consequence of this discrimination against him as a father, he did not see his children between Easter 2008 and 8 October 2008, and again between 13 November 2008 and 25 April 2009, as S.O. prevented him from seeing them during these periods. 26. The Government submitted that they did not dispute that the relationship between the applicant and his children fell within the scope of Article 8 of the Convention, even though he has never lived with them in a common household. The Government therefore considered Article 14 of the Convention to be applicable. 27. The Government argued that when it came to the applicant’s request for sole custody, the applicable legal provisions as in force at the relevant time did not differentiate in a discriminatory manner between parents because of their gender. It was as difficult for mothers without custody rights to obtain sole custody as it was for fathers. Irrespective of the gender of the parent applying for a transfer of custody, custody could only be withdrawn from the other parent. 28. The Government conceded, however, that the legal situation in force until 31 January 2013 constituted a disadvantage for the applicant with regard to his application for joint custody. Since the mother refused to agree on joint custody, the domestic courts could not examine whether joint custody might have been in the best interest of the children. After the amended Article 177 of the Civil Code entered into force, the applicant could apply for joint custody even without the mother’s consent. B. The Court’s assessment
29. In view of the alleged discrimination against the applicant in his capacity as the father of a child born out of wedlock, the Court considers it appropriate to examine the case first under Article 14 taken in conjunction with Article 8 of the Convention (see Zaunegger v. Germany, no. 22028/04, § 34, 3 December 2009, and Sporer, cited above, § 66). 1. Applicability
30. The Court reiterates that Article 14 complements the other substantive provisions of the Convention and the Protocols. It has no independent existence since it has effect solely in relation to “the enjoyment of the rights and freedoms” safeguarded by those provisions. It is necessary but it is also sufficient for the facts of the case to fall “within the ambit” of one or more of the Convention Articles (see, among other authorities, Burden v. the United Kingdom [GC], no. 13378/05, § 58, ECHR 2008).
31.

Article of the Convention at issue: Article 14
Outcome: violation