CEDH · PRESS;FORTHCOMINGJUDGMENTS;ENG — 8 novembre 2007

.s800EAC49 { font-size:12pt } .sFE10DC93 { margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt; text-align:center } .s29100277 { font-family:Arial; font-weight:bold } .s40F41F73 { margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt; text-align:right } .s32563E28 { margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt } .sBB9EE52A { font-family:Arial } .s4DDA3AA3 { font-family:Arial; font-weight:bold; font-style:italic } .sADADF4A7 { font-family:Arial; text-decoration:underline } .s7ED160F0 { text-decoration:none } .s653E6C45 { font-family:Arial; font-size:6.67pt; vertical-align:super; color:#0069d6 } .sCB9E0544 { margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt; text-align:left } .sC7EAD8B { font-family:Arial; font-weight:bold; text-decoration:underline } .sA36B60A1 { font-family:Arial; font-style:italic } .sF6A12959 { width:33%; height:1px; text-align:left } .s2EB42ED2 { margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt; font-size:10pt } EUROPEAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS   755 8.11.2007   Press release issued by the Registrar   FORTHCOMING GRAND CHAMBER JUDGMENT   13 November 2007   The European Court of Human Rights will be holding a public hearing in the Human Rights Building, Strasbourg, on Tuesday 13 November 2007 at 4 p.m. (local time) to deliver its Grand Chamber judgment in the case of D.H. and Others v. the Czech Republic (application no. 57325/00).   The press release and the text of the judgment will be available after the hearing on the Court’s Internet site ( http://www.echr.coe.int ).     D.H. and Others v. the Czech Republic   The case concerns an application brought by 18 Czech nationals of Roma origin who were born between 1985 and 1991 and live in the Ostrava region (Czech Republic).   Between 1996 and 1999 they were placed in special schools (zvláštní školy) for children with learning difficulties unable to follow the ordinary school curriculum. By law, the decision to place a child in a special school is taken by the head teacher on the basis of the results of tests to measure the child’s intellectual capacity carried out in an educational psychology and child guidance centre, and requires the consent of the child’s legal representative.   Fourteen of the applicants sought a review by Ostrava Education Department (školský úřad) on the grounds that the tests performed had been unreliable and that their parents had not been sufficiently informed of the consequences of giving consent. The Education Department found that the placements had been made in accordance with the statutory rules.   In addition, 12 of the applicants appealed to the Constitutional Court. They argued that their placement in special schools amounted to a general practice that created segregation and racial discrimination through the coexistence of two autonomous educational systems, namely special schools for the Roma and “normal” primary schools for the majority of the population. That appeal was dismissed on 20 October 1999.   The applicants complain under Article 2 of Protocol No. 1 (right to education) to the European Convention on Human Rights, taken alone and together with Article 14 (prohibition of discrimination) of the Convention, that they had suffered discrimination in the enjoyment of their right to education on account of their Roma origin.   On 5   May 2006 the applicants requested that the case be referred to the Grand Chamber under Article 43 [1] (referral to the Grand Chamber) and on 3 July 2006 the panel of the Grand Chamber accepted that request.     ***   Press contacts Emma Hellyer (telephone: 00 33 (0)3 90 21 42 15) Stéphanie Klein (telephone: 00 33 (0)3 88 41 21 54) Tracey Turner-Tretz (telephone: 00 33 (0)3 88 41 35 30) Paramy Chanthalangsy (telephone: 00 33 (0)3 90 21 54 91)   The European Court of Human Rights was set up in Strasbourg by the Council of Europe Member States in 1959 to deal with alleged violations of the 1950 European Convention on Human Rights. [1] Under Article 43 of the European Convention on Human Rights, within three months from the date of a Chamber judgment, any party to the case may, in exceptional cases, request that the case be referred to the 17 ‑ member Grand Chamber of the Court. In that event, a panel of five judges considers whether the case raises a serious question affecting the interpretation or application of the Convention or its protocols, or a serious issue of general importance, in which case the Grand Chamber will deliver a final judgment. If no such question or issue arises, the panel will reject the request, at which point the judgment becomes final. Otherwise Chamber judgments become final on the expiry of the three-month period or earlier if the parties declare that they do not intend to make a request to refer.