Birth registration and religion in Greece: Stavropoulos and Papanikolaou

In Stavropoulos and Others v Greece 52484/18 [2020] ECHR 493, when Mr and Mrs Stavropoulos registered the birth of their daughter – the third applicant – her birth record included in brackets an abbreviation of the word ονοματοδοσία (“naming”), indicating that she had been named by her parents rather than christened. They argued that the law did not require registry offices to specify whether a child was named simply by a civil act or by baptism, and they claimed a violation of their Article 9 right to freedom of religion. They also argued that the entry revealed sensitive personal data, in breach of Article 8 (private and family life). Continue reading