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Right to Respect for Private and Family Life, Home and Correspondence Published online by Cambridge University Press: 20 April 2023
Article 8: Right to respect for private and family life
1. Everyone has the right to respect for his private and family life, his home and his correspondence.
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.
FOUR PROTECTED RIGHTS
Article 8 of the Convention protects the right to respect for four different rights: private life, family life, home and correspondence. Several of these rights are closely connected to each other and are partially overlapping. It is not always possible to distinguish them from each other, nor is it even necessary.
The dynamic and evolutive character of the Court’s case-law is especially apparent in the context of Article 8. According to the Court, the Convention is a living instrument that needs to adapt to changing circumstances and new issues. Article 8 has been applied in a flexible manner to new areas and therefore its scope of application has become considerably wider over the years. The evolutive nature of the Convention has been most visible in cases that have reflected changes in the European moral standards and that the Court has examined in the light of the present-day concepts.
The dynamic and evolutive character of the Court’s case-law is especially apparent in the context of Article 8. According to the Court, the Convention is a living instrument that needs to adapt to changing circumstances and new issues. Article 8 has been applied in a flexible manner to new areas and therefore its scope of application has become considerably wider over the years. The evolutive nature of the Convention has been most visible in cases that have reflected changes in the European moral standards and that the Court has examined in the light of the present-day concepts.
Currently Article 8 extensively covers most aspects of life, such as the legality of the police investigation measures, custody of children, rights of sexual minorities, immigration, paternity, artificial insemination, abortion and protection of environment, to mention just a few. It does not guarantee any special rights for children, but children are largely protected in the same way as adults.
NEGATIVE AND POSITIVE OBLIGATION
The primary aim of Article 8 is to protect individuals’ private and family life from arbitrary interference by the authorities.
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