JUDGEMENT

In the case of Zaunegger v. Germany,



The European Court of Human Rights (Fifth Section), sitting as a Chamber composed of:



Peer Lorenzen, President,

Karel Jungwiert,

Rait Maruste,

Mark Villiger,

Isabelle Berro-Lefèvre,

Mirjana Lazarova Trajkovska, judges,

Bertram Schmitt, ad hoc judge,

and Stephen Phillips, Deputy Section Registrar,



Having deliberated in private on 20 October 2009,



Delivers the following judgment, which was adopted on the last mentioned date:



PROCEDURE



THE FACTS

I.  THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE CASE

II.  RELEVANT DOMESTIC AND COMPARATIVE LAW AND PRACTICE

A. Relevant domestic law

PROCEDURE

1.  The case originated in an application (no. 22028/04) against the Federal Republic of Germany lodged with the Court under Article 34 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (“the Convention”) by a German national, Mr Horst Zaunegger (“the applicant”), on 15 June 2004.

2.  The applicant was represented by Mr F. Wieland, a lawyer practising in Bonn, and subsequently by Mr G. Rixe, a lawyer practising in Bielefeld. The German Government (“the Government”) were represented by their Agent, Mrs A. Wittling-Vogel, Ministerialdirigentin, of the Federal Ministry of Justice.

3.  The applicant alleged that the domestic courts had infringed his right to the enjoyment of his family life and discriminated against him as an unmarried father.

4.  By a decision of 1 April 2008, the Court declared the application admissible.

5.  The Chamber having decided, after consulting the parties, that no hearing on the merits was required (Rule 59 § 3 in fine), the parties replied in writing to each other’s observations.

6.  Judge Jaeger, the judge elected in respect of Germany, withdrew from sitting in the case (Rule 28 of the Rules of Court). On 3 August 2009 the Government, pursuant to Rule 29 § 1 (a), informed the Court that they had appointed Mr Bertram Schmitt as an ad hoc judge in her stead.