The European Court of Human Rights issued a verdict in the case of Nikolyan v. Armenia.

ECHR held that there was a violation of right of access to court and right to respect for private life and held that Armenia was to pay 7,800 euros in respect of non-pecuniary damage to Gurgen Nikolyan.

The case concerned an applicant who was declared legally incapable in 2013, following proceedings brought by his wife and son. The Court found that the applicant could neither pursue his divorce and eviction claim against his wife nor seek restoration of his legal capacity in court because Armenian law imposed a blanket ban on direct access to the courts for those declared incapable. That situation had been exacerbated by the fact that the authorities had appointed the applicant’s son as his legal guardian, despite their having a conflictual relationship.

Moreover, the judgment depriving the applicant of his legal capacity had relied on just one, out-dated psychiatric report, without analysing in any detail the degree of his mental disorder or taking into account that he had no history of such illness.

In 2012 Mr Nikolyan lodged a divorce and eviction claim before the courts against his wife, submitting that their conflictual relationship made co-habitation unbearable. However, the domestic courts never examined his claim as he was declared legally incapable in 2013, following proceedings brought by his wife and son, who was living with his family in the same flat.

In particular, in November 2013 the District Court declared Mr Nikolyan incapable, holding that he had a mental disorder and was not able to understand his actions or control them.