[JURIST] The European Court of Human Rights [official website] has ruled [judgment text; press release] that a British ban on parent and children-in-law marriages violated rights guaranteed by Article 12 of the European Convention on Human Rights [text]. A man identified in court as "B" and his son’s ex-wife, identified as "L," brought their case to the Human Rights Court after a local British official denied them permission to marry. In its final judgment, the court recognized the British law’s intent of protecting "the integrity of the family" as legitimate, but noted that, in the absence of additional laws prohibiting non-marital relationships between in-laws, the ban did little to protect children from previous marriages from alleged confusion. The judges also highlighted a previous exception to the ban, allowing for marriage of in-laws where "no harm would ensue." B and L were awarded £12,000 (approximately $21,900) in costs and expenses and the British government must now consider changing the law to provide a right to in-law marriages. BBC News has more.