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In family law The most important Article in relation to family law is ARTICLE 8, which provides that everyone has the right to respect for his/her family life. This is however a qualified right, which means that it can be subject to exceptions. When deciding cases concerning Article 8, the European Court of Human Rights has to make an assessment whether there has been an interference with the right, if this interference has a legitimate aim and if it is proportionate in a democratic society. "Family life" includes relations between parents and their children, and also extends to grandparents and grandchildren. Other people may be included in "family life" but that depends on the specific circumstances. The question is — is there a genuine and close family tie? Living in the same household in a situation of financial dependency and with a genuinely close relationship is sufficient according to the European Court. It is also clear that the family life between parent and child continues even after a divorce. Article 8 also covers the right to respect for "private life", and in many cases an interference with a close relationship may be held an interference with private life even if it is not family life. For example, the concept of family life does not include homosexual relationships, but this comes within the ambit of private life. If the State intervenes in someone's family life by for example removing children into care, the European Convention on Human Rights requires that the natural parents are properly involved in the decision-making process and that full account is taken of their views and wishes. Apart from genuine and grave emergencies the principle should be that families should be involved in any decision-making process which might result in an application for care orders or adoption. Here one can also note that ARTICLE 6 requires that the civil rights of families to reside with and to have contact with their children are determined at a fair hearing within a reasonable time by an independent and impartial tribunal. Article 8 requires that parents who do not have custody of their children have the right to contact with them unless there are particularly serious grounds not to allow this. It is not sufficient in itself that the custodial parent objects to contact. An example of what might be a sufficiently serious reason is the fact that the divorced not-custodial parent is serving a long prison sentence. The importance of family life is also relevant in deportation and other immigration cases.
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