Il diritto al ricongiungimento familiare nella giurisprudenza della Corte europea dei diritti dell’uomo: riflessioni a margine del caso Pajić

The judgment issued by the European Court of Human Rights in Pajić v. Croatia raises some important questions regarding on the one hand the notion of family life for the purposes of Article 8 ECHR and on the other the margin of appreciation enjoyed by State when dealing with immigration matters. As regards the first element, the Court, in accordance with its previous case-law, states that the stable relationship between same-sex partners falls within the notion of family life, even in the case of non-cohabitant couples, and it should be granted the same rights of heterosexual couples finding in an analogous situation. As concerns the second aspect, the ECtHR, taking an approach which is also shared by the ECJ, insists on affirming that family reunification is a necessary corollary of the enjoyment of the right to family life, but is not explicitly stipulated as a specific and binding consequence of that right. Its granting is actually subjected to a balance with the public interest of the state to control the entry of foreign people into its territory and their residence there.