European court bolsters fathers' rights

Story here. Excerpt:

'The European Court of Human Rights granted a Nigerian man access to his children on Tuesday, overturning a series of German court rulings and potentially strengthening unmarried fathers’ rights.

The court, based in Strasbourg, France, was ruling on a case in which successive German courts had denied the man the right to see his twin daughters, who were born after the man had a relationship with a married German woman.

It found that the decisions by the courts had breached the man’s rights. Germany must now pay the man €5,000 for damages and a further €4,000 in legal costs. The ruling also establishes a precedent that unmarried fathers in Germany have a right to see their children even after a relationship breaks down.

While the father had not established a relationship with the girls, he had nevertheless shown a “serious interest” in them, the court decided.'