Kisebbségpolitikai
On-line Lexikon

Segregationcases constitute a separate line of the ECtHR’s jurisprudence in the context of minority education. In these cases, Roma children, due to their alleged insufficient knowledge of the State languageor other reasons, were separated by the authorities into special schools or classes intended for those with learning difficulties or mental disabilities. It was the segregation practice of the Czech Republic that was first condemned by the Court as violating the prohibition of discrimination. The complaint of 18 Czech children of Roma origin was rejected in the first round, as the government managed to prove that the specialized schools were not intended for Roma pupils, but to help children with learning difficulties. However, the Grand Chamber deplored the lower standard of education in these institutions and the general practice in which children are almost automatically placed in special schools on the basis of tests designed for the majority society, ignoring the characteristics of minorities (D.H. and others v. the Czech Republic2007). The complaint of 15 Roma children in Croatia followed a similar path. The Grand Chamber found that the curriculum of the segregated classes did not reflect the intention to address the alleged linguistic deficiencies of the pupils placed in separate classes, and there was no indication that separation based on language competence was applied to children other than the Roma minority. Thus, it cannot be proven that the segregation was an effective measure aimed at solving the language problem (Oršuš and Others v. Croatia2010). The ECtHR has also found violations of the Roma’s right to education in connection with the prohibition of discriminationin other States (Sampanis and Others v. Greece2008; Horváth and Kiss v. Hungary 2013; Szolcsán v. Hungary2023; Elmazova and Others v. North Macedonia2022), which unfortunately shows that school segregation of Roma children is a widespread practice throughout Europe.