To Marry and Found a Family
The only right in the Convention that names men and women. What Article 12 really protects, what it doesn't, and how the law recognises a father.
Edition 9, first published 27 October 2026.
Yesterday, in Edition 8, I wrote about free speech, and why a child’s privacy belongs to the child. Today’s right is the one most people never think about until the day they need it: the right to marry and to found a family.
Picture a dad at the register office. His baby is asleep on his arm. He’s been up all night and he couldn’t be happier. The registrar slides the form across and hands him a pen.
He’s not married to the baby’s mum. Plenty of dads in that chair don’t know that the signature he is about to write is what gives him parental responsibility in law. Article 12 is where that story starts.
What the right says
Article 12 of the European Convention on Human Rights, given effect in UK law by the Human Rights Act 1998, says:
“Men and women of marriageable age have the right to marry and to found a family, according to the national laws governing the exercise of this right.”
That’s it. One sentence. No second paragraph listing the reasons a state can limit it, unlike Articles 8, 9, 10 and 11.
And read the first three words again. Almost every other right in the Convention starts with “everyone” or “no one”. Article 12 is the only one that names men and women.
What it means in plain English
Two things are protected. The right to marry. And the right to found a family.
Both come “according to the national laws”. Parliament can set the rules: how old you have to be, who can consent, who is too closely related, and no marrying someone who is already married. In England and Wales the minimum age for marriage has been 18 since 27 February 2023.
But those rules can’t go so far that the right is emptied out. In R (Baiai) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2008] UKHL 53, the government had brought in a scheme that stopped many people subject to immigration control from marrying without the Home Secretary’s permission, whether or not the marriage was genuine. The House of Lords said that went too far. Lord Bingham said the right to marry is not absolute, “But equally plainly, in my opinion, it is a strong right.” National laws “must never injure or impair the substance of the right”. The government lost.
There is also something Article 12 does not do. In Johnston v Ireland (1986), the European Court of Human Rights said the words “right to marry” “cover the formation of marital relationships but not their dissolution”. Article 12 gives you no right to a divorce. It is about starting a family, not ending a marriage.
How it applies in the Family Court
I’ll be honest with you. Article 12 is hardly ever the Article that decides a Family Court case.
When parents split up and argue about where a child lives, or how often the child sees each parent, the right in play is Article 8, respect for family life. I wrote about it in Edition 6. The court’s starting point is the child’s welfare, and Article 12 adds very little to that.
Where the idea behind Article 12 really shows up for fathers is earlier, in how the law recognises a parent in the first place. In England and Wales, that recognition is called parental responsibility, and it is set out in the Children Act 1989.
If the parents were married when the child was born, both have parental responsibility automatically (section 2(1)).
If they weren’t married, the mother has it automatically. The father gets it in one of three ways (section 4(1)): - he is registered as the child’s father on the birth certificate; - he and the mother sign a parental responsibility agreement; or - a court orders it, on his application.
The birth certificate route has applied in England and Wales since 1 December 2003. Before that, an unmarried dad named on the certificate got no parental responsibility from it.
That’s the dad at the register office. Same baby, same love, same sleepless night. Whether the law sees him as a parent from day one can come down to one signature.
Why this is about equality and children
Article 12 doesn’t say “men have the right to marry and found a family” or “women have the right”. It says men and women. Founding a family is a right that belongs to fathers and mothers alike.
The law has moved a long way towards that. A married father and a married mother start equal. An unmarried father named on the birth certificate starts with parental responsibility too. But plenty of dads still don’t know any of this until it’s too late, and a child is better off when both parents are recognised from the start.
What you can do
If you’re not married to your child’s mum, get your name on the birth certificate. For births in England and Wales, that is what gives you parental responsibility.
If you’re not on it, know the other two routes. A parental responsibility agreement with the mother, or an application to the court. Take advice if you’re not sure which applies to you.
Tell the dads you know. Plenty of new fathers have never heard the words “parental responsibility”. One conversation could save one of them a lot of pain later.
Remember which Article does the heavy lifting. If you’re in a dispute about seeing your child, it’s Article 8 and the child’s welfare, not Article 12. Read Edition 6 if you missed it.
Ask your MP one question. What is the government doing to make sure every new father knows how to get parental responsibility?
This series is general information, not legal advice.
Sources
ECHR, Article 12 (official text, ETS No. 5, as amended): https://rm.coe.int/1680063765
Human Rights Act 1998, Sch 1, Article 12: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1998/42/schedule/1/part/I/chapter/11
Marriage and Civil Partnership (Minimum Age) Act 2022, s.1; in force 27 February 2023 (SI 2023/88, reg 2): https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2022/28/contents
R (Baiai and others) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2008] UKHL 53, 30 July 2008, paras 13–14 (Lord Bingham): https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld200708/ldjudgmt/jd080730/rhome-1.htm
Johnston and Others v Ireland, no. 9697/82, 18 December 1986, para 52: https://hudoc.echr.coe.int/eng?i=001-57508
Children Act 1989, s.2(1) and (2): https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1989/41/section/2
Children Act 1989, s.4(1): https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1989/41/section/4
Adoption and Children Act 2002, s.111 (in force 1 December 2003, SI 2003/3079): https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2002/38/section/111
Charley Bickers, Founder of UN For Men - The United Global Alliance For Men & Boys
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The United Global Alliance For Men & Boys is not part of, affiliated with, or endorsed by the United Nations. UN for Men is our campaign for a dedicated UN body for men and boys.
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