Can people with disabilities bring up children? Yes, of course - the state just has to provide them with the necessary support. This follows from Article 23 of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The European Court of Human Rights recently took up these requirements in its judgement in the case of Á.F.L. v. Iceland. The judgement impressively illustrates how high the requirements for supporting parents with disabilities are and how carefully a state must examine the situation of the child and possible alternatives in a specific case before a withdrawal of custody can be considered to protect the child's welfare.
Teresa Kellner, assistant professor at the chair, has summarised and translated the judgment for the Zeitschrift für das gesamte Familienrecht. It has been published in FamRZ 2025, 1795-1798, with a comment by Robert Uerpmann-Wittzack.
