To segregate or not to segregate? : educational rights of the Roma children in the case law of the European Court of Human Rights

Abstract

For years, Roma children have been put into special, segregated classes or schools where they have been taught a limited, low-level curriculum. The experience has left these students unqualified for all but the most basic jobs and has trapped generations of people of Roma ethnicity in a cycle of poverty and hopelessness. Since 2007 the European Court of Human Rights has examined six cases which addressed the compatibility of segregated education of Roma children with the rights enshrined in the European Convention on Human Rights. This working paper illustrates the approach the Court has adopted in this recent case-law and its possible repercussions for future litigation and development both for Roma children but also for those who have experienced discrimination in education and in other areas protected by the European Convention.