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31/1/2014
Panoramic photo of the building headquarters of the European Court of Human Rights, Strasbourg, France.
© Consiglio d'Europa

The European Court of Human Rights condemns Italy for inhuman treatments and violation of the right to private and family life

In two recent judgments published on January 21st, 2014, the European Court of Human Rights condemned the Italian government for failing to comply with its international obligations under the ECHR with regard to cases Placì v. Italy (application no. 48754/11) and Zhou v. Italy (application no. 33773/11.)

In the first case, Placì v. Italy, the Court held that there had been a violation of article 3 ECHR which prohibits inhuman and degrading treatment as well as of article 6(1) ECHR, protecting the right to a fair hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal. The applicant, Luigi Placì, is a former soldier who claimed to be a victim of inhuman and degrading treatment because. Despite his fragile state of physical and mental health, he was called into compulsory military service. Furthermore, according to the applicant, there had been a causal link between his military service and the worsening of his illness. The Court, upholding Mr Placì’s arguments, concluded that there had been a violation of article 3 due to the State’s failure to guarantee that the applicant performed military service in conditions which were compatible with article 3.

As for the alleged violation of articles 6(1) ECHR, the applicant had complained of the lack of impartiality and independence of the Medical Board in charge of assessing his fitness for military service, given that the Board was under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Defence-the defendant in the domestic proceedings. The Court, noting that the applicant had legitimate reasons to fear that the Medical Board had not acted with the appropriate neutrality in the national proceedings, found a violation of article 6(1). All things considered, the Court ruled that Italy is to pay the applicant EUR 40,000 for compensation and EUR 17,000 as costs and expenses.

As for the second case, Zhou v. Italy, the Court condemned Italy again, this time for having infringed article 8 ECHR on the right to respect for private and family life. The case concerned Jiaoqin Zhou, a Chinese national who, unable to look after her daughter due to her extreme precariousness of her job, complained about the fact that the Juvenile Court of Venice placed her child with a foster family with a view to adoption. In the judgement, the Strasbourg judges noted that the Italian government should have taken concrete measures in order to allow the child to remain with the biological mother, before starting the adoption procedures. For these reasons, according to the Court, Italy is guilty of failing to respect the private and family life and shall pay the applicant EUR 40,000 for non-pecuniary damage, along with EUR 17,000 in respect of costs and expenses.