SECOND SECTION
DECISION
Application no. 40375/13
Sevim AKAT
against Turkey
The European Court of Human Rights (Second Section), sitting on 29 September 2015 as a Committee composed of:
Nebojša Vučinić, President,
Egidijus Kūris,
Stéphanie Mourou-Vikström, judges,
and Abel Campos, Deputy Section Registrar,
Having regard to the above application lodged on 27 May 2013,
Having deliberated, decides as follows:
THE FACTS
1. The applicant, Ms Sevim Akat, is a Turkish national, who was born in 1967 and lives in Istanbul.
2. The facts of the case, as submitted by the applicant, may be summarised as follows.
3. On 12 December 2005 the applicant, who is a lawyer, got married and took her husband’s surname pursuant to the Article 187 of the Civil Code. She, however, kept her maiden name in front of her husband’s surname as provided for by the same provision.
4. On 2 August 2007 the applicant brought proceedings before the Fatih Civil Court of General Jurisdiction for permission to use solely her maiden name, “Akat”.
5. On 13 November 2007 the Fatih Civil Court of General Jurisdiction dismissed the applicant’s request on the ground that it lacked jurisdiction and referred the case to Fatih Family Court.
6. On 17 July 2008 the Fatih Family Court dismissed the case on the ground that the Civil Registry Office did not have the capacity to be a party in the instant case.
7. On 17 March 2009 the applicant brought proceedings before the Fatih Family Court. During the proceedings, the issue was brought before the Constitutional Court for an examination of the constitutionality of Article 187 of the Civil Code. On 10 March 2011 the Constitutional Court reviewed the constitutionality of this provision and dismissed the case.
8. On 14 June 2011 the Fatih Family Court dismissed the applicant’s request on the ground that, under Article 187 of the Civil Code, married women had to bear their husband’s name throughout their marriage and were not entitled to use their maiden name alone.
9. The applicant appealed. On 24 December 2012 the Court of Cassation upheld the judgement.
10. On 21 March 2013 the applicant lodged an individual application before the Constitutional Court.
11. On 19 December 2013 the Constitutional Court decided that the application was admissible and that the interference in the personal integrity of the applicant, as protected under Article 17 of the Constitution, was not prescribed by law. It was therefore concluded that there had been a violation of Article 17 of the Constitution. The Constitutional Court awarded the applicant with the litigation costs and refused her request for non-pecuniary damages. Furthermore, the Constitutional Court decided to send the case file to the competent first-instance court for a renewal of the proceedings.
12. Subsequently, on 27 January 2014 the case was brought before the Istanbul Family Court. On 22 April 2014 the Istanbul Family Court ordered that the applicant should use her maiden name alone as her surname. This judgment became final on 29 May 2014. On 6 June 2014 the applicant’s surname was changed from “Akat Eşki” to “Akat” in the civil registry. Accordingly the applicant has been using her maiden name since 6 June 2014.
COMPLAINTS
13. The applicant complained that the national authorities’ refusal to allow her to bear only her maiden name after her marriage amounted to a breach of Article 8 of the Convention. She further claimed that the fact that Turkish law allowed married men to bear their own surname after marriage and not married women constituted discrimination on grounds of sex and is incompatible with Article 14 of the Convention.
THE LAW
14. The applicant complained under Articles 8 and 14 of the Convention about the refusal of the domestic authorities to allow her to bear solely her maiden name.
15. The Court observes from the documents in the case-file that following the decision of the Constitutional Court dated 19 December 2013, a new set of proceedings was started before the Istanbul Family Court. As a result, on 22 April 2014 the Istanbul Family Court ordered that the applicant should use her maiden name alone as her surname. This judgment became final on 29 May 2014. Consequently, on 6 June 2014 the applicant’s surname was changed from “Akat Eşki” to “Akat” in the civil registry.
16. The Court is therefore satisfied that the situation has been remedied before the national authorities and that accordingly the applicant could not be considered as a victim of the alleged violations.
17. In the light of the above, the Court concludes that the application is incompatible ratione personae with the provisions of the Convention and must be declared inadmissible in accordance with Article 35 §§ 3 and 4 of the Convention.
For these reasons, the Court, unanimously,
Declares the application inadmissible.
Done in English and notified in writing on 22 October 2015.
Abel CamposNebojša Vučinić
Deputy RegistrarPresident
Full & Egal Universal Law Academy