Judgment 65128/19

Applicant name CSATA
Applicant type natural person
Number of applicants 1
Country ROMANIA
Application no. 65128/19  
Date 18/04/2023
Judges Faris Vehabović, President,
 Branko Lubarda,
 Ana Maria Guerra Martins
Institution Court
Type Judgment
Outcome Art. 8 Violation
Reason Positive obligation
Type of privacy Private life
Keywords Transgender
Facts of the case the domestic courts found that the applicant was a transgender person on the basis of detailed medical information and the way she presented herself socially. They refused to accept her request for legal gender recognition on the ground that she had not undergone sex reassignment surgery. The Court observes that the applicant did not wish to undergo such surgery and invoked, in substance, before both the domestic courts and the Court, her right to self-determination.
AnalysisIn X and Y v. Romania, the Court had already concluded that the Romanian legal framework in terms of legal gender recognition was not clear and foreseeable in its application. It finds that the rigid reasoning of the authorities placed the applicant, for an unreasonable and continuous period, in an anomalous position in which she experienced feelings of vulnerability, humiliation and anxiety. She faced an insoluble dilemma, being required either to undergo the surgery and waive the full exercise of her right to respect for her physical integrity or to renounce the recognition of her gender identity, which relates to her right to respect for private life. The Court therefore finds that the authorities disregarded the fair balance which has to be struck between the general interest and the interests of the individual.
Other Article violation? No violation Article 14 ECHR
Damage awarded hat the respondent State is to pay the applicant, within three months, the following amounts, to be converted into the currency of the respondent State at the rate applicable at the date of settlement:
(i) EUR 7,500 (seven thousand five hundred euros), plus any tax that may be chargeable, in respect of non-pecuniary damage;
(ii) EUR 810 (eight hundred and ten euros), plus any tax that may be chargeable to the applicant, in respect of costs and expenses;
Documents Judgment