Parental Alienation and Court Inertia in the Light of the Art. 8.º ECHR - Case Study ECtHR 17/01/2021 (Download)

Parental alienation is a controversial issue that has gained prominence in jurisprudence reflecting the circumstances of an unjustified deprivation of child-parent relationships, accompanied by a triangulation of the child within a parental conflict. This paper sets out circumstances where twins were placed (separately) into foster care, with different extended maternal family members who then alienated the twins from the mother over a period of 10 years.

Family relationships are considered a fundamental reciprocal right set out in article 8 of the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR). It is important to understand how the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has interpreted and applied the Convention to cases of parental alienation, but also, how court inertia may deeply compromise child-parent relationships, as well as a reconnection of the child-parent relationships.