ELSHOLZ v. GERMANY - 25735/94

The European Court of Human Rights, sitting as a Grand Chamber composed of the following judges:

The case was referred to the Court in accordance with the provisions applicable prior to the entry into force of Protocol No. 11 to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (“the Convention”) [1] by the European Commission of Human Rights (“the Commission”) on 7 June 1999 and by a German national, Mr Egbert Elsholz (“the applicant”), on 25 May 1999 (Article 5 § 4 of Protocol No. 11 and former Articles 47 and 48 of the Convention).

The case originated in an application (no. 25735/94) against the Federal Republic of Germany lodged with the Commission under former Article 25 of the Convention by the applicant on 31 October 1994.

The applicant alleged that the refusal to grant him access to his son, a child born out of wedlock, amounted to a breach of Article 8 of the Convention, that, as the father of a child born out of wedlock, he had been the victim of discrimination contrary to Article 14 of the Convention taken together with Article 8 and that, under Article 6 § 1 of the Convention, the proceedings before the German courts were unfair.

The Commission declared the application partly admissible on 30 June 1997. In its report of 1 March 1999 (former Article 31 of the Convention) [2] , it expressed the opinion that there had been a violation of Article 14 of the Convention taken in conjunction with Article 8 (fifteen votes to twelve); that no separate issue arose as regarded Article 8 taken alone (fifteen votes to twelve); and that there had been a violation of Article 6 § 1 (seventeen votes to ten).