EUROPEAN COMMISSION OF HUMAN RIGHTS
In the Application Ulla Widén v.
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INTRODUCTION
1. This report relates to Application No.
10723/83 lodged against
(art. 25) of the Convention
for the Protection of Human Rights and
Fundamental Freedoms. The application was registered on
The applicant was
represented by Mr. Lennart Möller, a lawyer
practising in
The Government were
represented by their Agent, Ambassador
Hans Corell, Ministry for
Foreign Affairs, and, as Advisers,
Mr. Karl-Ingvar Rundqvist,
Chief Legal Adviser, Ministry of Health and
Social Affairs, Mr. Staffan
Duhs, Counsellor, Ministry for Foreign
Affairs, Mrs. Gertrud
Holmquist, Legal Adviser, Ministry of Health and
Social Affairs, Mr. Håkan
Berglin, Legal Adviser, Ministry for Foreign
Affairs, Mrs. Berit Fischer
and Mrs. Kajsa Samuelsson, Social Welfare
Officers at the Social
Welfare Board of Jönköping.
2. On
declared the application
admissible.* The Commission then
proceeded
to carry out its task under
Article 28 (art. 28) of the Convention
which provides as follows:
---------------
* This decision is public
and can be obtained from the Commission's
Secretary. The decision will be published in the
Commission's
official publication
entitled Decisions and Reports.
---------------
"In the event of the
Commission accepting a petition referred to it:
(a) it shall, with a view to ascertaining the
facts, undertake
together with the
representatives of the parties an examination of the
petition and, if need be, an
investigation, for the effective conduct
of which the States
concerned shall furnish all necessary facilities,
after an exchange of views
with the Commission;
(b) it shall place itself at the disposal of
the parties concerned
with a view to securing a
friendly settlement of the matter on the
basis of respect for Human
Rights as defined in this Convention."
3. The Commission found that the parties had
reached a friendly
settlement of the case and
on 10 October 1986 it adopted this Report,
which, in accordance with
Article 30 (art. 30) of the Convention, is
confined to a brief
statement of the facts and of the solution
reached.
The following members of the
Commission were present when the Report
was adopted:
MM. C. A. NØRGAARD
G. SPERDUTI
J. A. FROWEIN
F. ERMACORA
E. BUSUTTIL
G. JÖRUNDSSON
G.
TENEKIDES
S. TRECHSEL
B. KIERNAN
A. S. GÖZÜBÜYÜK
A. WEITZEL
J. C. SOYER
H. G. SCHERMERS
H. DANELIUS
G. BATLINER
J. CAMPINOS
H. VANDENBERGHE
Mrs G. H. THUNE
Sir Basil HALL
Mr. F. MARTINEZ
PART I: Statement of Facts
4. The applicant, Mrs. Ulla Widén,
is a Swedish citizen, born in
1933 and resident at Jönköping. She has three children: Nils, born in
1964, Harald, born in 1972
and Astrid, born in 1977.
5. On
distriktsnämnden väst)
of Jönköping applied to the Regional
two youngest children be
taken into public care under the 1980 Act
with Special Provisions on
the Care of Young Persons (lagen med
särskilda bestämmelser om vård av unga). The applicant contested the
application of the
Council. By judgment of
into public care.
6. The applicant appealed against the
judgment to the
Administrative Court of
Appeal (kammarrätten) of Jönköping, which by a
judgment of
7. The applicant lodged a further appeal
with the Supreme
8. On
children was enforced by a
representative of the Social Council, a
doctor and a policeman at
the applicant's home. The children were
placed in a children's home
at Borås.
9. On
should be refused access to
the children for two months since it was
feared that she would take
the children away from the foster home.
This period was subsequently
prolonged. On
decision was changed and the
applicant was granted visiting rights.
10. On
children in a foster home at
Töreboda, which is situated about 120
kilometres from the
applicant's home. The applicant appealed
against
this decision to the
judgment of
The applicant lodged a
further appeal with the Administrative Court of
Appeal, which by judgment of
appeal.
11. On
from the applicant that the
public care of the children should cease.
The applicant appealed to
the Regional Administrative Court which in a
judgment of
discontinued.
12. The Social Council appealed against this
decision to the
Administrative Court of
Appeal of Jönköping, which in a judgment of
15 May 1985 rejected the
appeal.
13. The judgment of the Administrative Court
of Appeal acquired
legal force. The children returned to the mother on
14. Before the Commission the applicant
submitted that the
separation of the children
from her, followed by more than five
months' isolation, violated
Articles 3, 9 (art. 3), (art. 9) and
14 (art. 14) of the Convention.
She also complained that the purpose
of the public care order was
to indoctrinate her children and not to
allow her to keep them in a
Christian private school. She therefore
alleged a breach of Article
2 of Protocol No. 1 (P1-2) to the
Convention. Finally, the
applicant also complained about the procedure
before the Administrative
Courts and about the fact that the judgments
in the case were not
publicly pronounced. She alleged a
violation of
Article 6 (art. 6) of the
Convention in this respect.
Part II: Solution reached
15. Following its decision on the
admissibility of the
application, the Commission
placed itself at the disposal of the
parties with a view to
securing a friendly settlement in accordance
with Article 28 (b) (art.
28-b) of the Convention and invited the
parties to submit any
proposals they wished to make.
In accordance with the usual
practice the Secretary, acting on the
Commission's instructions,
contacted the parties in order to explore
the possibilites of reaching
a friendly settlement. Following an
exchange of letters the
Secretary and Mr. Erik Fribergh of the
Commission's Secretariat had
separate discussions with the parties in
and after a further exchange
of letters the parties agreed on the
terms of a friendly
settlement.
16. By letter of
confirmed the agreement by
submitting the following declaration of the
Government:
"In view of the
Commission's decision to declare Application
No. 10723/83 admissible, the
Government are prepared to make the
following offer in order to
terminate the proceedings before the
Commission:
a. The Government will pay the sum of one
hundred thousand
(100 000) Swedish Crowns to
each of the applicant's two children,
Harald and Astrid.
b. The Government will pay the applicant's
legal costs in the
proceedings before the
Commission in the amount of one hundred forty
thousand (140 000) Swedish
Crowns."
17. In a telex of 7 October 1986 the
applicant's representative,
Mr. Lennart Möller,
made the following declaration on behalf of the
applicant:
"With reference to
Application No. 10723/83 pending before the
European Commission of Human
Rights in
offer made by the Swedish
Government in their letter of
No. 10723/83 to be settled.
This declaration is being
made in view of the settlement within the
meaning of Article 28 (b)
(art. 28-b) of the European Convention on
Human Rights which has been
reached in co-operation with the European
Commission of Human Rights
in the proceedings concerning this
application."
18. The Commission, at its session on
the parties had reached
agreement regarding the terms of a settlement.
The Commission further
found, having regard to Article 28 (b)
(art. 28-b) of the
Convention, that a friendly settlement had been
secured on the basis of
respect for Human Rights as defined in the
Convention.
For these reasons, the
Commission adopted this Report.
Secretary to the
Commission President of the
Commission
(H. C. KRÜGER) (C. A. NØRGAARD)
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