| Applicant name | ISMAYILZADE |
| Applicant type | natural person |
| Number of applicants | 1 |
| Country | AZERBAIJAN |
| Application no. | 17780/18 |
| Date | 18/01/2024 |
| Judges | Marko Bošnjak, President, Alena Poláčková, Lətif Hüseynov, Péter Paczolay, Gilberto Felici, Erik Wennerström, Raffaele Sabato |
| Institution | Court |
| Type | Judgment |
| Outcome Art. 8 | No violation |
| Reason | Positive obligation |
| Type of privacy | Private life; relational privacy; procedural privacy |
| Keywords | Right to a name; identity; human dignity |
| Facts of the case | The present case concerns the refusal of the domestic authorities to register the forename chosen by the applicant for her newborn child and raises an issue under Article 8 of the Convention. |
| Analysis | The applicant submitted that she had had to register the forename “Abbas” as her son’s forename because she needed to take him to Iran for a medical examination. However, the Court finds that it does not appear from the case file that the applicant ever mentioned that argument, either in her appeals to the appellate and cassation courts or during the hearing in the appellate court, even though, the child’s forename had been registered as “Abbas” following the judgment of the first‑instance court. Moreover, while she provided the Court with a copy of the child’s passport showing the dates of two trips to Iran, no information or documents concerning the medical examination were submitted. She was able to bring her complaint before three levels of courts, which examined her claims and gave reasons for their judgments. While the first‑instance and appellate courts held that the forename in question was not in the child’s best interests, the Supreme Court dismissed the applicant’s cassation appeal holding mainly that the child had already been given a forename, and indicated the relevant procedure for requesting a change of that name. Judge Sabato, joined by Bosnjak, write a long opinion in which they urge the Court to revisit its case law on the right to a name. |
| Other Article violation? | – |
| Damage awarded | – |
| Documents | Judgment |