State's positive obligation on protecting private and family life under echr

The main purpose of human rights is to protect the individual against the state. Nevertheless,this approach to the negative nature of human rights has changedin the 18th and 19th centuries.In the 20th century, it was accepted both by human rights doctrine and practice that classic human rights cannot exist when states only do not interfere these rights which means states act in their negative obligations. On the contrary, it was accepted that states have some positive obligations about protection and enforcement of classic rights. Affected by this change, today it is a well-accepted view that states have positive obligations about not only social and economic rights but also classic rights. Neither in Turkish law nor in Comparative law, there is a clear and precise definition of positive obligations of states which force states to take actions to protect human rights. The concept of positive obligation, which is based on Article 1 of the ECHR and Article 5 of the Turkish Constitution, is accepted by the ECHR case law as it is needed to be protected not only in theory but also in practice. Although the positive obligation doctrine and case law are in progress as a result of the dynamic (evolutive) interpretation of ECHR by ECtHR, in practice predictability, legal certainty and scope of these obligations which broaden the responsibilities of the state are creating problems. The right to respect private and family life as a human right has the most profound jurisprudence within the context of the positive obligation doctrine due to its comprehensive content. At the same time, the right to respect for private and family life is one of the most protected human rights against state intervention. Therefore, it is important to determine the positive obligations of states about the right to respect private and family life. In this dissertation, the scope and theory of positive obligations of states to protect the right to respect for private and family life are studied through theoretical discussions and current developments under ECtHR case law. Furthermore, the legal grounds of positive obligations in the Turkish Republic as a signatory of the ECHR are examined within the scope of decisions of Constitutional Court of the Republic of Turkey.