European Court of Human Rights on Child protection and Children’s Rights

The European Court of Human Rights track record of case law on child protection cases and children’s rights is extensive, but the case law on the principle of the child’s best interest, family, children’s participation, and member State’s margin of appreciation, to mention a few examples, is not coherent and oftentimes highly problematic if analyzed from a child rights perspective. The Court has the authority to exercise strong discretion, and its judgments have potentially huge impact on member states policies and practice. Simultaneously, the Court has become an arena for civil society and member states to intervene in case law and provides their view on how to assess principles and evidence. For example, Czech Republic and Ordu Iuris (a conservative polish civil rights organization) have requested to comment on most of the Norwegian child protection cases presented for the Court. Why is that? How can we understand these developments, and does it influence the Courts judgements?