Facts
The complainant X. was born on 2. September 1943 during the marriage of Y. and Z. The marriage was divorced around 1950. On 6. December 2005, X. filed a lawsuit against her mother Z. and former husband Y. with the District Court of Baden and requested that it be established that Y. was not her father. The District Court dismissed the lawsuit, as the lawsuit to challenge the presumption of paternity of the husband was late and there were no important reasons to reinstate the deadline. X. appealed against the judgment of the District Court, which was rejected by the High Court of the Canton of Aargau. X. then filed a complaint in civil matters and requested the Federal Court to overturn the judgment of the High Court and establish that Y. was not her father.
The complainant relied on the right to respect for private life under Art. 8 ECHR and argued that she had a right to know her own origin. The respondent Y. requested that the complaint be dismissed, insofar as it was admissible.
Considerations
The Federal Court has partially upheld the complaint. It has established that the complainant's lawsuit to challenge the presumption of legitimacy under Art. 256 CC was rightly dismissed, as the deadline had expired. However, the court has recognized that the complainant has a right to know her own origin, which is protected by Art. 8 ECHR.
The court has established that the right to respect for private life includes important aspects of personal identity, including knowledge of one's own origin. It has also recognized that the complainant has a significant interest in knowing her own origin, which is protected by the ECHR.
The court has also established that the rights of third parties, in…