No shortbread!!!!
I'll have a hob-nob please. Meanwhile...
STRASBOURG, France (Reuters) - The European Court of Human Rights on Tuesday condemned Britain for not allowing a woman artificial insemination from her husband who is in prison, saying their right to respect for family life had been violated.
Kirk Dickson, who was convicted of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment in 1994, met his wife Lorraine via a prison pen pal network while she was also imprisoned, the court said. She has since been released, and they were married in 2001.
The couple requested artificial insemination facilities to enable them to have a child together, arguing it would not otherwise be possible, given Dickson's earliest release date in 2009 and the age of his wife, who was born in 1958.
British authorities rejected their demand, arguing such requests by prisoners could only be granted in "exceptional circumstances".
"The Grand Chamber was prepared to accept as legitimate, that the authorities, when developing and applying the policy in question, should concern themselves, as a matter of principle, with the welfare of any child: conception of a child was the very object of the exercise," the court said.
It also said the state had obligations to ensure the effective protection of children, but added:
"That could not go so far as to prevent parents from attempting to conceive a child in circumstances like those in the applicants' case, especially as Ms Dickson was at liberty and could have taken care of any child conceived until her husband was released."
Britain's decision had violated the European Convention of Human Rights' article on the right to respect for private and family life, the court said, awarding the applicants 5,000 euros in damages and 21,000 euros for expenses.
The world has gone mad.