Intended or "New" Parenthood? The child’s best interest between Italy and the ECtHR

• Jurisdiction: European Union
• Year: 2024

Speaker

Costanza Nardocci, PhD, is a Professor of Constitutional Law at the Department of Italian and Supranational Public Law, University of Milan, Italy. She specializes in courses such as "Gender Justice", "Women in Tech: New Frontiers of Gender-Related Rights and Artificial Intelligence", and "Human Rights and Climate Change". Previously, she taught "Women Empowerment and Sustainable Development" at the same university.

Dr. Nardocci coordinates the Specialization Course on gender-based violence and serves on the Steering Committee of the HAICU Lab Project on artificial intelligence for the U7+ Alliance. She has been a Visiting Scholar at Columbia University and Fordham Law School.

Her research encompasses constitutional and human rights law, focusing on topics like minority rights, gender studies, anti-discrimination law, and artificial intelligence. Dr. Nardocci has authored over 80 articles and three monographs, including "Race and Ethnicity: Discrimination in the Constitutional and Supranational Dimension" (2016), "The Right to Constitutional Justice" (2020), and a forthcoming book on "Artificial Intelligence and Discriminations".

Topic

Costanza Nardocci's delves into the complex legal landscape surrounding modern parenting concepts in Italy and their implications within the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR). The study scrutinizes the shift from biological to social or intended parenthood, exploring causes such as infertility, death, and single parenting, and their legal origins like adoption, assisted reproductive technologies (ARTs), and surrogacy.

In Italy, the legal framework around adoption, ARTs, and surrogacy is contentious. Adoption has subjective limitations, while ARTs face restrictions, including prohibitions on scientific research and surrogacy. This legal ambiguity often leads to cross-border procreative tourism and challenges in recognizing legal bonds, impacting the child's best interest.

The ECtHR's stance on ARTs and surrogacy, as seen in cases like Evans v. the United Kingdom and Costa & Pavan v. Italy, adds another layer of complexity. The court grapples with balancing the child's best interest against various competing...