Facts: the state hospital refused Ms Tysiac an abortion, notwithstanding medical evidence that otherwise her health was at risk (the criteria for a legal abortion in Poland).

Judgment: the European Court of Human Rights held that whilst it was not its task to examine whether the ECHR guarantees the right to have an abortion, the regulation of pregnancy touched upon the sphere of private life such that the authorities were under a positive duty to secure to their citizens their right to effective respect for their physical and psychological integrity and, relevant to the present case, that required clear procedures for determining eligibility and resolving disputes, which had been absent in the present case.