P, C and S v. United Kingdom
European Court of Human Rights
ECHR 56547/00 (2002)
- Written by Caitlinn Raimo, JD
Facts
P (plaintiff), a United States citizen, had a son, B, in 1980, while living in California. For the first four years of B’s life, he visited the doctor nearly 50 times. During one visit, P was accused of poisoning B with a laxative. P was suspected of suffering from Munchausen syndrome by proxy (MSBP), and B was taken into protective custody. P’s diagnosis was later confirmed. She was charged and convicted of a misdemeanor, served three years’ probation, and was ordered to attend treatment. In 1996, P met C (plaintiff), a British citizen who researched women wrongly accused of MSBP. P visited C in the United Kingdom, violating her probation. Soon after, P became pregnant by C. When P sought to have her American marriage annulled, her first husband contacted the authorities in the United Kingdom (defendant) and informed them of P’s diagnosis. An investigation ensued, and the authorities sought an emergency order to seize P’s child upon birth. That child, S (plaintiff) was born in 1998 and was taken into protective custody within 12 hours. P challenged the removal, contending that it violated Article 8 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (the convention).
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning ()
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