ECHR rules in favour of rights for same-sex couples in Ukraine

Ukraine discriminated against a same-sex couple and failed to protect their rights, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled on Thursday. The court ruled that Ukraine, which is a subscriber to the European Convention on Human Rights, had violated Article 14, the prohibition of discrimination, and article 8, the right to private and family life.

Ukraine discriminated against a same-sex couple and failed to protect their rights, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled on Thursday. The plaintiffs, Andrii Maimulakhin and Andrii Markiv, had brought the case to the Court in 2014 after they tried unsuccessfully to get married in seven different registry offices.

"Their sexual orientation had been the sole basis for the difference in treatment," the court ruling said, adding that "the broadly worded aim of the protection of the traditional family could not in itself be accepted as a valid ground for justifying the denial" of equal rights. The court ruled that Ukraine, which is a subscriber to the European Convention on Human Rights, had violated Article 14, the prohibition of discrimination, and article 8, the right to private and family life.