Marriage, Family, Discrimination & Contradiction: An Evaluation of the Legacy and Future of the European Court of Human Rights' 法理on LGBT Rights

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has been considering whether same-sex couples should have the rights to marry and to be recognized as a family under the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR) for over thirty years. In the 1980s the European Commission of Human Rights (the Commission) and the ECtHR respectively rejected the notion that same-sex relationships constituted a “family life” under Article 8 of the ECHR, and that post-operative transgendered persons had the right to marry under Article 12. However, throughout the 1990s and the first decade of the new millennium, the ECtHR handed down a body of judgments that incrementally liberalized these rights (albeit not always smoothly) in favor of LGBT persons. This evolution culminated in part on 24 June 2010, when the ECtHR passed judgment in Schalk and Kopf v. Austria. In that case the First Section of the ECtHR made a number of major, but seemingly contradictory rulings. For the first time in its history, the ECtHR ruled that same-sex relationships expressly constitute a “family life” under Article 8, and that the right to marry under Article 12 was not confined to opposite-sex couples in “all circumstances.” However, the ECtHR simultaneously ruled that Member States are under no obligation to protect that “family life,” by providing same-sex couples with access to marriage under Article 12, or an alternative registration system under Articles 8 and 14. The Grand Chamber denied the applicants' subsequent request for a referral.

本研究探讨了欧洲人权法院（ECtHR）对欧洲人权公约（ECHR）中涉及同性伴侣的条款的解读，特别是同性关系是否应被认定为《公约》第8条下的“家庭生活”，以及婚姻权是否应扩展至同性伴侣。《公约》第12条是否应保障同性伴侣的结婚权也是研究的核心问题。研究回顾了ECtHR过去三十年间的判决演变，尤其是在《Schalk和Kopf诉奥地利案》中的裁定，该裁定首次承认同性关系为“家庭生活”，但并未要求各国提供同性伴侣结婚的权利。

本研究通过法律分析的方法，回顾和评估ECtHR三十年来关于《公约》第8条、第12条和第14条的判决，重点考察这些判决如何与LGBTQ+权利相关联。研究分析了同性伴侣关系的法律认同在欧洲委员会成员国中的逐步发展，探讨是否存在承认同性婚姻或替代法律认同体系的趋势。通过对法律先例和判决的审视，研究评估了同性伴侣在欧洲各国法律体系中逐渐获得法律认可的过程，并讨论这些法律权利的演变。

本文的发现表明，尽管存在反复的保守主义倾向，欧洲人权法院（ECtHR）在过去三十年间逐步宽松了对《公约》第8条、第12条和第14条的解读，支持承认LGBTQ+群体的关系。当前，ECtHR已经将“婚姻”和“家庭生活”的概念从传统界限中拓展，并对基于性取向的全面排除法律实施了更高标准的审查。尽管《Schalk与Kopf诉奥地利案》标志着一个重要的进展，也揭示了ECHR机制中的一个“真空”，但与前述框架相结合，这一真空为未来再次审议同性关系的承认提供了强有力的理由。同性关系承认可以通过两种形式：一是《公约》第12条下的婚姻，二是根据第8条和第14条派生出的替代登记系统。虽然目前关于同性婚姻的共识尚未完全形成，且《公约》第12条的限制性表述仍在，但同性伴侣作为“家庭生活”的一部分，正逐渐得到成员国的认可。此外，ECtHR已开始对基于性取向的法律区分采取更高标准的审查，因此为同性伴侣提供替代登记系统的权利在短期内是可以预见的。申请人需成功主张，依据《公约》第8条与第14条，剥夺此类权利构成对其“家庭生活”的非法和不正当干涉。