The legal analysis in cases of protection of home under Article 8 of the Convention takes place in the same manner as under the other aspects of Article 8. First, one must decide whether the matter falls within the scope of home protected by Article 8. If this question is answered in the affirmative, the analysis under negative obligation continues with the question whether there has been an interference with the right to respect for home. Thereafter, the analysis continues with the following questions:

• – was the interference “in accordance with the law” ?;

• – did the interference pursue a legitimate aim?; and

• – was the interference “necessary in a democratic society ” ?

SCOPE OF PROTECTION OF HOME

According to the Court’s interpretation, a home is usually a place, a physically defined area, where private and family life develops. The definition of a home is not dependent on how a home has been defined in the domestic law but the Court’s interpretation of the concept of a home is autonomous. The existence of a home is dependent on the concrete circumstances of the case, requiring both sufficient and continuous links to a certain place. Furthermore, the word “home” appearing in the English version of Article 8 is a term that is not to be strictly construed as the equivalent French term, “domicile”, has a broader connotation.

NOTION OF HOME

All places where people reside are not necessarily considered to be their homes. For example, holiday residences or hotel rooms are not generally considered to be homes. However, it is not always possible to make a clear distinction between one’s permanent home and a leisure home since a person may divide his or her time between two different residences or he or she may otherwise have strong emotional ties to the secondary residence that he or she may consider to be a home. Similarly, if a homeless person lives in a hotel, he or she may claim a right to respect for home at least to the extent that the legality of his or her removal from the hotel premises can be examined under Article 8.