Hoffmann v. Austria

Ingrid Hoffmann (plaintiff) and S. were Roman Catholics who married and had two children, Martin and Sandra, who were baptized in the Roman Catholic faith. Hoffmann was a stay-at-home mother, and S. was a technician. Hoffmann became a Jehovah’s Witness, then petitioned a district court for divorce and custody. Hoffmann planned to raise Martin and Sandra in the Jehovah’s Witness faith. S. filed for custody, arguing that the faith would harm Martin and Sandra because it discouraged practitioners from having relationships with nonpractitioners and prohibited blood transfusions, among other things. Hoffmann argued that she should keep custody because she did not require outside childcare. An expert witness found that a transfer of custody to S. could emotionally harm Martin and Sandra. The district court found that Hoffmann and S. were fit parents but that Martin and Sandra were more comfortable in Hoffmann’s custody, Hoffmann did not require outside childcare, and a transfer of custody could cause emotional harm. The court found that Hoffmann’s faith would cause some surmountable social difficulties, but a blood transfusion could be court-ordered if required. The district court awarded custody to Hoffmann. S. appealed to the regional court, which dismissed his appeal, and S. appealed to the Austria Supreme Court. The supreme court held that the lower courts did not apply the best-interests-of-the-child standard (BIOC standard) and that the possibility that the faith could harm Martin and Sandra outweighed the factors that weighed in Hoffmann’s favor. The supreme court ultimately overturned the lower courts’ decisions because of an Austrian religious-education law. Under the law, religious education must be by agreement of Hoffmann and S.; because S. disagreed with education in the Jehovah’s Witness faith, Martin and Sandra could be educated only in the Roman Catholic faith, which was the faith Hoffmann and S. practiced when they married. The European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (convention) contained a provision, Article 8, that recognized that everyone had the right to respect for his or her family life. Article 14 of the convention provided that the rights protected by the convention, including Article 8 rights, applied without discrimination on any ground, including religion. Hoffmann applied to the European Court of Human Rights, arguing that Austria (defendant) violated her rights under Articles 8 and 14.