Judgment concerning France
In the case of Cherrier v. France the Court held that there had been no violation of the right to respect for private and family life.
The case concerned the refusal by the National Council for Access to Information about Personal Origins (Conseil national pour l’accès aux origines personnelles – “the CNAOP”) to inform the applicant, who was born to anonymous parents, of the identity of her biological mother. The applicant had applied for information about her origins to be disclosed, but the mother had reasserted her choice not to reveal her identity.
The Court found that a procedure for the confidentiality of a mother’s identity to be waived, subject to her consent, and for accessing non-identifying information on the child’s origins was a suitable mechanism for ensuring a fair and reasonable balance between the rights and interests at stake.