Ciubotaru v. Moldova

Ciubotaru v. Moldova (application No. 27138/04) was a case decided by European Court of Human Rights in 2010.

Facts

In 2002, when applying to have his old Soviet identity card replaced with a Moldovan one, Mr. Ciubotaru submitted that his ethnicity was Romanian. As he was told that his application would not be accepted unless he indicated Moldovan ethnicity, as in his and his parents' Soviet documents, he complied.

Afterwards he requested the relevant State authority to change his ethnic identity entry from “Moldovan” to “Romanian”. His request was refused with the argument that since his parents had not been recorded as ethnic Romanians in their birth and marriage certificates, it was impossible for him to be recorded as an ethnic Romanian. He was advised to search the archives for traces of Romanian origin of his ancestors. Appeals to domestic courts were refused.^[1]

Judgment

The Court found that

“

the Court is ready to accept that it should be open to the authorities to refuse a claim to be officially recorded as belonging to a particular ethnicity where such a claim is based on purely subjective and unsubstantiated grounds. In the instant case, however, the applicant appears to have been confronted with a legal requirement which made it impossible for him to adduce any evidence in support of his claim. This is precisely because section 68 of the Law on Documents pertaining to Civil Status and the current practice of recording ethnic identity create insurmountable barriers for someone wishing to have recorded an ethnic identity different from that recorded in respect of his or her parents by the Soviet authorities. According to this section the applicant could change his ethnic identity only if he could show that one of his parents had been recorded as being of Romanian ethnicity in the official records, which represented a disproportionate burden in view of the historical realities of the Republic of Moldova (...). 58. The Court would further observe that Mr Ciubotaru's claim is based on more than his subjective perception of his own ethnicity. It is clear that he is able to provide objectively verifiable links with the Romanian ethnic group such as language, name, empathy and others. However, no such objective evidence can be relied on under the Moldovan law in force.

”

^[2]

The Court concluded, that the procedure of changing ethnicity record violated Article 8 (right to private life) of the European Convention on Human Rights, and ordered Moldova to pay the applicant 5 000 euros.

Judge Mijović filed a concurring opinion, pointing that I consider self-identification primarily as a matter of personal perception rather than a matter based on objective grounds, and that is why I do not share the Chamber's reasoning in the judgment.^[3]

References

1. ^ [http://cmiskp.echr.coe.int/tkp197/view.asp?action=html&documentId=867119&portal=hbkm&source=externalbydocnumber&table=F69A27FD8FB86142BF01C1166DEA398649 ECtHR Judgment (Paras. 6-13)
2. ^ [http://cmiskp.echr.coe.int/tkp197/view.asp?action=html&documentId=867119&portal=hbkm&source=externalbydocnumber&table=F69A27FD8FB86142BF01C1166DEA398649 ECtHR Judgment (Paras. 57-58)
3. ^ [http://cmiskp.echr.coe.int/tkp197/view.asp?action=html&documentId=867119&portal=hbkm&source=externalbydocnumber&table=F69A27FD8FB86142BF01C1166DEA398649 ECtHR Judgment (concurring opinion of Judge Mijović)

External links

• ECtHR Judgment
• Press release