Authored By: Charlotte Jones
This legal article will investigate how the European Court of Human Rights[1] (ECHR) protects the Roma in France when they are evicted from their camps. It will discuss that Article 8[2] (right to your private and family life) helps protect the Roma, who have lived on their plot for a long period of time. Additionally, Article 13[3] (right to an effective remedy) can also help protect the Roma. Furthermore, this article argues that France should ratify Protocol 12[4] so Article 14[5] can be used as a free-standing right. This would help protect the Roma as the court could find that some cases breach Article 14, even if other Articles have not been violated.
The Roma are the largest ethnic minority in Europe.[6] Approximately 10 to 12 million Roma people live in Europe, with the majority in Italy, Spain, France, and the UK.[7] Traditionally, they travelled from place to place, although the majority are now settled in one place. Many Roma people face discrimination, social exclusion, and segregation.[8] In France, numerous Roma people have been forcibly evicted from their camps. In 2010, 88 Roma camps were eliminated, and the residents were evicted from the camps.[9] In 2015, 11,000 Roma people were evicted from the camps, and they were cleared.[10] Roma were the targets of the most punitive action by any French government since World War II.[11]
The ECHR is a treaty that guarantees specific rights and freedoms and prohibits unfair and harmful practices to people in member states.[12] France signed the ECHR in 1950 and ratified it in 1974, which means that they are bound by its provisions.[13] Article 14 of the ECHR states that all rights in the convention shall be secured without discrimination on any ground, such as sex, race, colour, language, and other status.[14] As it states, ‘other status,’ the Roma should be protected under the convention, which is very broad. Article 14 is violated when a state treats people differently or unfairly without providing objective and reasonable justification.[15] France has evicted Romas because they are ‘easy targets,’ so they are breaching this right.[16] However, for Article 14 to be actionable, it can only be used in conjunction with another right given by the convention.[17] Kim has described it as a “weakness” of Article 14 as the court does not rule a sole violation of Article 14 when the issues do not fall within the ambit of other substantive provisions, even when the applicants are classified as a ‘vulnerable group.’[18]
The functional limitation of Article 14 led to the introduction of Protocol 12,[19] which allows Article 14 to be used alone as a free-standing right to equality and has a much wider remit.[20] Although this protocol improves the effectiveness of Article 14, only 20 of 46 Council of Europe states have signed and ratified Protocol 12.[21] Kim states that the Protocol has not fully modified Article 14’s parasitic character, as the majority of parties are still only bound by Article 14.[22] France has also not ratified Protocol 12, and the slow process of ratification among states is due to the Protocol’s ‘unacceptable uncertainties’, such as being ‘too wide’ and ‘unclear.’[23] If the French government ratified Protocol 12, it would help protect the Roma as the court could find that some cases breach Article 14, even if other Articles have not been violated.
When the Roma are evicted from their camps in France, their rights may be protected by the ECHR. In Winterstein and Others v France,[24] a group of travellers were evicted from private land where they had been living for many years. The authorities had taken steps to relocate several families. Four of the families received social housing but were accommodated after four years. The rest of the families remained on the same land, living under the threat of eviction.[25] The court found that the use of eviction powers without adequate consideration for alternative accommodation violated Article 8[26] of the convention.[27]
In Chapman v United Kingdom,[28] the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR)[29] acknowledged that Article 8 does not recognise a right to be provided with a home.[30] However, in Codona v UK,[31] The court stated that Article 8 should provide suitable accommodation for travellers, but only if they have it at their disposal.[32] However, in Winterstein and others v France, the court went further when applying Article 8, stating that Roma must be given special consideration when deciding on possible alternative accommodation as they are a vulnerable minority and as the occupation of a caravan is an integral part of the identity of Roma, states should respect their way of life.[33] The court stated that Roma should be provided with alternative housing except in cases of force majeure,[34] and the case of Adam v France[35] stated that travellers ‘could not be criticised for refusing standard housing.’[36] This is important for Roma as it respects their lifestyle choices and makes sure they will not be homeless after eviction. This shows that Roma are protected by Article 8 in France.
The European Roma Rights Centre (ERRC) stated that caravans belonging to Roma come under the court’s definition of ‘home’ in Article 8, as a ‘home’ is not limited to lawfully occupied premises.[37] This protects Roma by giving them the right to enjoy their home peacefully and stops public authorities from stopping them from entering or living in their homes without good reason.[38] However, whether a particular premise constitutes a ‘home’ under Article 8 depends on the ‘existence of sufficient and continuous links with a specific place.’[39] In Hirtu and Others v France (Hirtu),[40] the camp did not constitute a ‘home’ as the applicants had only lived there for six months when it had been cleared, so they could not rely on the right to respect for their home.[41] This shows that Article 8, specifically the right to home life, does not protect Roma in France, who have lived on a plot of land for a short time.
In Hirtu, the court held that the applicant’s right to respect their private and family life was interfered with, and Article 8 of the convention had been violated. This was because there was a short time between the prefect’s order being issued and the actual evictions, and there was no assessment of the families and individuals concerned, nor was there assistance with schooling, healthcare, and housing.[42] This shows that the failure of state parties to assess needs accurately or avoid unjustifiable delay can also represent violations of Article 8.[43] This shows that Article 8 protects the Roma in France as their personal situation and needs need to be assessed before being evicted.
In Hirtu, the court held that there had been no violation of Article 3[44] (Prohibition of inhuman or degrading treatment) as the circumstances of the forcible eviction had not amounted to inhuman or degrading treatment.[45] Whereas, in Burlya and Others v Ukraine,[46] there was a violation of Article 3 as the court found that the families would have felt fear, helplessness and interiority at having to flee their homes and having their homes ransacked, which amounted to degrading treatment.[47] The facts in the two cases were similar, and the families of both cases would have felt fear from the eviction. However, only the families in Burlya and Others v Ukraine were protected by Article 3, which shows that Roma in France are not protected by Article 3.
In Hirtu, there had also been a violation of Article 13 (right to an effective remedy)[48] as the applicant’s arguments under Articles 3 and 8 were not judicially examined in the first instance.[49] This shows Roma are protected in France by Article 13 as it states that they are entitled to an effective remedy.
To conclude, Article 8 protects the Roma in France. In Winterstein and others v France, the court stated that the Roma should be given special consideration when deciding on possible alternative accommodation as they are a vulnerable minority, and the occupation of a caravan is an integral part of the identity of Roma. However, ‘home’ under Article 8 depends on the ‘existence of sufficient and continuous links with a specific place.’ The Roma will not be protected by Article 8 if they have lived in a camp for a short period.
This legal article also found that Article 3 does not protect the Roma in France, as seen in Hirtu, even though a similar case in Ukraine was found to breach Article 3. Article 13 also helps to protect the Roma in France, as the Roma in Hirtu were entitled to an effective remedy.
Bibliography
Primary sources
Legislation
European Convention on Human Rights
Cases
Thlimmenos v Greece (2001) 31 EHRR 411
Adam v France, Application No.40987/05,
Codona v United Kingdom, Application No. 498/05,
Winterstein and Others v France, Application No. 27013/07,
Chapman v United Kingdom, Application No. 27238/95,
Hirtu and Others v. France, Application No.24720/13,
Burlya and Others v Ukraine, Application No. 3289/10,
Secondary sources
Reports
Roma Support Group, ‘The Roma community’ (2016)
European Court of Human Rights, ‘Guide on Article 14 of the European Convention on Human Rights and on Article 1 of Protocol No. 12 to the Convention’ (2022)
European Committee of Social Rights, ‘COLLECTIVE COMPLAINT No. 27/2004, European Roma Rights Center v. Italy’ (2004)
Websites
Amnesty International, ‘The Roma in Europe: 11 things you always wanted to know but were afraid to ask’ (amnesty.org, April 2015) < https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/campaigns/2015/04/roma-in-europe-11-things-you-always-wanted-to-know-but-were-afraid-to-ask/ > accessed 25 December 2024
European Parliament, ‘Roma: what discrimination do they face and what does EU do?’ (europarl.europa.eu, September 2020) < https://www.europarl.europa.eu/topics/en/article/20200918STO87401/roma-what-discrimination-do-they-face-and-what-does-eu-do#:~:text=of%20paid%20employment.-,Poverty,live%20below%20the%20poverty%20line > accessed 20 December 2024
European Human Rights Centre, ‘The French Recipe: Evict, Demolish and “Deliver them back to the borders” (errc.org, January 2020) < https://www.errc.org/news/the-french-recipe-evict-demolish-and-deliver-them-back-to-the-borders > accessed 21 December 2024
Council of Europe, ‘Secretary General responds to reports that French police have cleared hundreds of Roma in Paris’ (coe.int, February 2016) < https://www.coe.int/en/web/portal/news-2016/-/asset_publisher/StEVosr24HJ2/content/secretary-general-responds-to-reports-that-french-police-have-cleared-hundreds-of-roma-in-paris > accessed 26 December 2024
Equality and Human Rights Commission, ‘What is the European Convention on Human Rights’ (equalityhumanrights.com, April 2017) < https://www.equalityhumanrights.com/human-rights/what-are-human-rights/what-european-convention-human-rights >accessed 24 December 2024
Amnesty International, ‘France: Chased away: Forced evictions of Roma in Ile-de-France’ (amnesty.org, November 2012) < https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/eur21/012/2012/en/ >Accessed 24 December 2024
Council of Europe, ‘Prohibition of discrimination’ (coe.int, 2024) < https://www.coe.int/en/web/echr-toolkit/linterdiction-deladiscrimination#:~:text=Article%2014%20does%20not%20give,NB%20Protocol%20No > accessed 20 December 2024
European Court of Human Rights, ‘Factsheet- Roma and Travellers’ (echr.coe.int, 2013) < https://www.echr.coe.int/documents/d/echr/fs_roma_eng > accessed 23 December 2014
United Nations Human Rights, ‘International standards, Special Rapporteur on the right to adequate housing’ (ohchr.org, 2024) < https://www.ohchr.org/en/special-procedures/sr-housing/international-standards > accessed 24 December 2024
UK Parliament, ‘Judgments- London Borough of Harrow (Appellants) v Qazi (FC) (Respondent)’ (publications.parliament.uk, 2024) < https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld200203/ldjudgmt/jd030731/qazi-3.htm#:~:text=Whether%20or%20not%20a%20particular,1986)%2011%20EHRR%20335) > accessed 22 December 2024
Equality and Human Rights Commission, ‘ Article 8: Respect for your private and family life’ (equalityhumanrights.com, 2024) < https://www.equalityhumanrights.com/human-rights/human-rights-act/article-8-respect-your-private-and-family-life >accessed 26 December 2024
European Roma Rights Centre, ‘Burlya and Others v Ukraine (2028)’ (errc.org, November 2028) < https://www.errc.org/cikk.php?cikk=4464 > accessed 28 December 2024
Council of Europe, ‘Roma: what discrimination do they face and what does EU do?’ (europarl.europa.eu, September 2020) < https://www.europarl.europa.eu/topics/en/article/20200918STO87401/roma-what-discrimination-do-they-face-and-what-does-eu-do#:~:text=of%20paid%20employment.-,Poverty,live%20below%20the%20poverty%20line > accessed 27 December 2024
European Roma Rights Centre, ‘systematic Exclusion of Roma from employment’ (errc.org, 31 March 2006) < https://www.errc.org/roma-rights-journal/systemic-exclusion-of-roma-from-employment >accessed 28 December 2024
Equality and Human Rights Commission, ‘A history of human rights in Britain’ (equalityhumanrights.com, 9 October 2018) < https://www.equalityhumanrights.com/human-rights/what-are-human-rights/history-human-rights-britain >accessed 26 December 2024
UK Parliament, ‘Instructions and Protocols not yet ratified’ (publications.parliament.uk, 2024) < https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/jt200405/jtselect/jtrights/99/9906.htm >accessed 28 December 2024
Journal Articles
Wadham J and Byrne K F, ‘More human rights: Protocols 4, 7 and 12 of the European Convention on Human Rights and the Human Rights Act 1998’ (2023) 6(1) 528
Kim S Y, ‘Les vulnérables: evaluating the vulnerability criterion in Article 14 cases by the European Court of Human Rights’ (2021) 41(4) 617
Henrard K, ‘The European Court of Human Rights, Ethnic and Religious Minorities and the Two Dimensions of the Right to Equal Treatment: Jurisprudence at Different Speeds?’ (2016) 34(3) 157
O’Donovan D, ‘Breaking the cycle of discrimination? Traveller/ Roma housing exclusion and the European Convention on European Convention on Human Rights’ (2016) 16(1) 5
[1] European Convention on Human Rights
[2] European Convention on Human Rights, Article 8
[3] European Convention on Human Rights, Article 13
[4] European Convention on Human Rights, Protocol 12
[5] European Convention on Human Rights, Article 14
[6] Roma Support Group, ‘The Roma community’ (2016) 1,3.
[7] Amnesty International, ‘The Roma in Europe: 11 things you always wanted to know but were afraid to ask’ (amnesty.org, April 2015) < https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/campaigns/2015/04/roma-in-europe-11-things-you-always-wanted-to-know-but-were-afraid-to-ask/ > accessed 25th December 2024.
[8] European Parliament, ‘Roma: what discrimination do they face and what does EU do?’ (europarl.europa.eu, September 2020) < https://www.europarl.europa.eu/topics/en/article/20200918STO87401/roma-what-discrimination-do-they-face-and-what-does-eu-do#:~:text=of%20paid%20employment.-,Poverty,live%20below%20the%20poverty%20line > accessed 20 December 2024.
[9] European Human Rights Centre, ‘The French Recipe: Evict, Demolish and “Deliver them back to the borders” (errc.org, January 2020) < https://www.errc.org/news/the-french-recipe-evict-demolish-and-deliver-them-back-to-the-borders > accessed 21 December 2024.
[10] Council of Europe, ‘Secretary General responds to reports that French police have cleared hundreds of Roma in Paris’ (coe.int, February 2016) < https://www.coe.int/en/web/portal/news-2016/-/asset_publisher/StEVosr24HJ2/content/secretary-general-responds-to-reports-that-french-police-have-cleared-hundreds-of-roma-in-paris > accessed 26 December 2024.
[11] European Human Rights Centre, ‘The French Recipe: Evict, Demolish and “Deliver them back to the borders” (errc.org, January 2020) < https://www.errc.org/news/the-french-recipe-evict-demolish-and-deliver-them-back-to-the-borders > accessed 21 December 2024.
[12] Equality and Human Rights Commission, ‘What is the European Convention on Human Rights’ (equalityhumanrights.com, April 2017) < https://www.equalityhumanrights.com/human-rights/what-are-human-rights/what-european-convention-human-rights >accessed 26 December 2024.
[13] Equality and Human Rights Commission, ‘A history of human rights in Britain’ (equalityhumanrights.com, 9 October 2018) < https://www.equalityhumanrights.com/human-rights/what-are-human-rights/history-human-rights-britain >accessed 26 December 2024.
[14] European Convention on Human Rights, Article 14
[15] Thlimmenos v. Greece (2001) 31 EHRR 411 para 44
[16] Amnesty International, ‘France: Chased away: Forced evictions of Roma in Ile-de-France’ (amnesty.org, November 2012) < https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/eur21/012/2012/en/ >Accessed 24 December 2024.
[17] Council of Europe, ‘Prohibition of discrimination’ (coe.int, 2024) < https://www.coe.int/en/web/echr-toolkit/linterdiction-deladiscrimination#:~:text=Article%2014%20does%20not%20give,NB%20Protocol%20No> accessed 20 December 2024.
[18] So Yeon Kim, ‘Les vulnérables: evaluating the vulnerability criterion in Article 14 cases by the European Court of Human Rights’ (2021) 41(1) 617, 622.
[19] European Convention of Human Rights
[20] John Wadham and Fiona K Byrne, ‘More human rights: Protocols 4, 7 and 12 of the European
Convention on Human Rights and the Human Rights Act 1998’ (2023) 6(1) 528,531.
[21] European Court of Human Rights, ‘Guide on Article 14 of the European Convention on Human Rights and on Article 1 of Protocol No. 12 to the Convention’ (2022) 1,11.
[22] So Yeon Kim, ‘Les vulnérables: evaluating the vulnerability criterion in Article 14 cases by the European Court of Human Rights’ (2021) 41(4) 617,619.
[23] UK Parliament, ‘Instructions and Protocols not yet ratified’ (publications.parliament.uk, 2024) < https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/jt200405/jtselect/jtrights/99/9906.htm >accessed 28 December 2024.
[24] Winterstein and Others v France (2016) Application No. 27013/07, Decision 17 October 2013
[25] Kristin Henrard, ‘The European Court of Human Rights, Ethnic and Religious Minorities and the Two Dimensions of the Right to Equal Treatment: Jurisprudence at Different Speeds?’ (2016) 34(3) 157,169.
[26] European Court of Human Rights, Article 8
[27] European Court of Human Rights, ‘Factsheet- Roma and Travellers’ (echr.coe.int, 2013) < https://www.echr.coe.int/documents/d/echr/fs_roma_eng > accessed 23 December 2014.
[28] Chapman v United Kingdom (2001) Application no. 27238/95, Decision of January 18 2001
[29] European Court of Human Rights
[30] European Court of Human Rights, ‘Case of Chapman v The United Kingdom- Judgement’ Application no. 27238/95, Decision of January 18 2001
[31] Codona v United Kingdom (2006) Application No. 498/05, Decision of 7 February 2006
[32] Codona v United Kingdom (2006) Application No. 498/05, Decision of 7 February 2006 at para (23)
[33] Darren O’Donovan, ‘Breaking the cycle of discrimination? Traveller/ Roma housing exclusion and the European Convention on European Convention on Human Rights’ (2016) 16(1) 5,15.
[34] United Nations Human Rights, ‘International standards, Special Rapporteur on the right to adequate housing’ (ohchr.org, 2024) < https://www.ohchr.org/en/special-procedures/sr-housing/international-standards > accessed 24 December 2024.
[35] Adam v France Application No.40987/05, Decision 22 May 2007
[36] Darren O’Donovan, ‘Breaking the cycle of discrimination? Traveller/ Roma housing exclusion and the European Convention on European Convention on Human Rights’ (2016) 16(1) 5,11.
[37] European Committee of Social Rights, ‘COLLECTIVE COMPLAINT No. 27/2004
European Roma Rights Center v. Italy’ (2004) 1,22.
[38] Equality and Human Rights Commission, ‘ Article 8: Respect for your private and family life’ (equalityhumanrights.com, 2024) < https://www.equalityhumanrights.com/human-rights/human-rights-act/article-8-respect-your-private-and-family-life >accessed 26 December 2024.
[39] UK Parliament, ‘Judgments- London Borough of Harrow (Appellants) v Qazi (FC) (Respondent)’ (publications.parliament.uk, 2024) < https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld200203/ldjudgmt/jd030731/qazi-3.htm#:~:text=Whether%20or%20not%20a%20particular,1986)%2011%20EHRR%20335) > accessed 22 December 2024.
[40] Hirtu and Others v France, Application No. 24720/13, Decision 14 May 2020
[41] European Court of Human Rights, ‘Hirtu and Others v France- Judgement’ Application No. 24720/13, Decision 14 May 2020
[42] European Court of Human Rights, ‘Hirtu and Others v France- Judgement’ Application No. 24720/13, Decision 14 May 2020
[43] Darren O’Donovan, ‘Breaking the cycle of discrimination? Traveller/ Roma housing exclusion and the European Convention on European Convention on Human Rights’ (2016) 16(1) 5,13.
[44] European Court of Human Rights, Article 3
[45] European Court of Human Rights, ‘Factsheet- Roma and Travellers’ (echr.coe.int, 2013) < https://www.echr.coe.int/documents/d/echr/fs_roma_eng > accessed 23 December 2024.
[46] Burlya and Others v Ukraine, Application 3289/10, Decision 6 November 2018
[47] European Roma Rights Centre, ‘Burlya and Others v Ukraine (2028)’ (errc.org, November 2028) < https://www.errc.org/cikk.php?cikk=4464 > accessed 28 December 2024.
[48] European Convention of Human Rights, Article 13
[49] European Court of Human Rights, ‘Hirtu and Others v France- Judgement’ Application No. 24720/13, Decision 14 May 2020
