M.S. v. SWEDENDISSENTING OPINION OF MR. N. BRATZA
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Document date: April 11, 1996
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DISSENTING OPINION OF MR. N. BRATZA
Contrary to the view of the majority of the Commission, I
consider that there has been a violation of Article 8 of the Convention
in the present case. My reasons for so concluding are substantially
those set out in the dissenting opinion of Mr. Nørgaard and others. I
attach particular weight to the insufficiency of the procedural
safeguards to protect the applicant's right to respect for her private
life. As is noted in the dissenting opinion, the deficiency is in part
due to the fact that neither the Social Insurance Office nor the clinic
consulted or notified the applicant regarding the request and
subsequent submission of the applicant's medical records, with the
consequence that she was not in a position to object or agree to the
clinic's submission of the records. However, I also consider that the
preserving of a fair balance required that the applicant should have
had an opportunity of challenging the disclosure of the information
before an independent authority prior to its disclosure, on the
grounds (inter alia) of its lack of relevance to the claim in question.
No such procedure was available to the applicant in the present case.
As to the applicant's complaint under Article 6, I have not found
it necessary to resolve the question whether there was in the present
case an arguable right under Swedish law or a dispute as to the civil
rights of the applicant, and therefore whether Article 6 of the
Convention was applicable.
Assuming the Article was applicable, my conclusion that there has
been a breach of Article 8 on the grounds, inter alia, that the
applicant was unable to challenge the disclosure of the information
before an independent authority in advance of its submission to the
Office makes it unnecessary for me to reach a separate conclusion as
to whether this deficiency also amounted to a breach of Article 6. As
to the position after disclosure, there existed a possibility for the
applicant to bring court proceedings to determine the lawfulness of the
disclosure: in such proceedings the courts could determine whether
Chapter 8 Section 7 of the Insurance Act had been correctly applied
and, in particular, whether it was necessary to forward the information
in question to the Social Insurance Office. At this stage, therefore,
the applicant had access to a court for the determination of her civil
rights, if any.
In view of my conclusion in regard to the complaint under
Article 8 of the Convention, including the procedural aspects of that
provision, I have not found it necessary to examine whether there has
also been a violation of Article 13 of the Convention.
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