Case of Vallianatos and Others v. Greece

In 2008, the Greek government enacted a series of laws (the reforms) concerning family, children, and society. Under the reforms, heterosexual adults, but not homosexual adults, could form civil unions. The purpose of the reforms was to address the rising number of children born outside of marriage and the problem of single parenthood. The reforms offered civil unions as an alternative to civil or religious marriage. Parties in civil unions would receive some government protections but not the same protections as those in civil or religious marriages. The reforms were controversial and drew criticism from groups such as the Church of Greece, while other groups supported the extension of the right to a civil union to homosexual couples. The European Convention on Human Rights (the convention), also known as the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, contained a provision, Article 8, that (1) recognized that everyone had the right to respect for his or her family life and (2) prohibited public authorities from interfering with that right unless the interference was in accordance with the law and necessary in a democratic society. Several same-sex couples joined with a gay-rights nonprofit organization (plaintiffs) and filed applications in the European Court of Human Rights, alleging that because the reforms pertained only to heterosexual couples, the reforms violated homosexuals’ Article 8 right.