On 4 December 2007, the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights handed down it’s decision in Dickson v The United Kingdom, a case concerning prisoners’ access to artificial insemination facilities.
The applicants complained that the refusal by the Secretary of State to allow the first applicant access to artificial insemination facilities whilst in prison constituted a breach of the applicants’ rights under art 8 (right to private and family life) and art 12 (right to marry and found a family) of the European Convention on Human Rights.
The Grand Chamber held (by a 12:5 majority) that there had been a violation of art 8, but that it was not necessary to examine the complaint under art 12.
