In March 2007, the European Court of Human Rights acknowledged the legitimacy of the complaint lodged by Alicja Tysiac against the refusal to perform an abortion and awarded her 25 thousand Euros compensation. In June, the Polish government appealed the verdict and called for renewed consideration of the complaint. The Court in Strasbourg dismissed the appeal and upheld the compensation awarded in March. (26-SEP-07)

Written by Agnieszka Chmielecka/ HRH Warsaw

In March, the Court ruled that Poland violated Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights defining the right to respect for private life and stated that Poland should establish an independent organ, to which an appeal against the refusal to perform an abortion could be lodged. The procedure should be swift enough to enable the performance of an abortion within the legally permissible period.

The Polish government appealed the Court’s verdict. The appeal was dismissed on Monday by the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights, which means that the verdict comes into force and Poland should pay the woman the money awarded by the court within 3 months. Decisions to refuse renewed consideration of the case do not require justification. The Court refuses to reconsider the case in 98% of the cases.

Description of the case in HRH Warsaw / Marta Lempicka’s article of 24.03.2007: http://www.humanrightshouse.org/dllvis11.asp?id=1441&year=2007&start=25

Information received by the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights on 25.09.2007: http://www.hfhrpol.waw.pl/pliki/AlicjaTysiac.pdf