The Rights of Roma in European Courts

This essential volume shines a powerful new light on the potential-and limits-of litigation in achieving social change. With ground-breaking contributions on the decades-long struggle to combat Roma discrimination in the European courts, the book succeeds at two critical levels: offering an on-the-ground account of the strategic and doctrinal dimensions of Roma rights mobilization, while providing new theoretical insights on how courts shape movements for equality. In the end, it makes a compelling case that understanding how law treats the most marginalized among us holds profound lessons for the future of liberal democracy depends. It could not be more timely and urgent.

• RIGHTS OF ROMA IN EUROPEAN COURTS: STRATEGIC LITIGATION AND THE BOUNDARIES OF HUMAN RIGHTS 1: Kristin Henrard and Lilla Farkas, Introduction Part I The context: Roma rights between politics and the law 2: Peter Vermeersch, Varieties of understanding the plight of the Roma in Europe: implications for human rights activism and litigation strategies 3: Balázs Majtényi, European Organisations and the protection of Roma rights: Policy priorities, fragmentation and mutual learning Part II The conceptual frame 4: Chris Gledhill, Strategic Litigation before the European Court of Human Rights and Roma Rights 5: Kristin Henrard, International Courts and the Interpretation/Adjudication of Human Rights: about possibilities and constraints 6: Kristin Henrard, The European courts' engagement with systemic discrimination: different shades of acknowledgement and implications for review 7: Kristin Henrard and Christopher Roberts, Foregrounding the burden of proof in cases of systemic discrimination against Roma by the European Court of Human Rights and the European Committee of Social Rights Part III Strategic Roma rights litigation in European courts 8: Aleksandra Gliszczynska-Grabias and Anna Sledzinska-Simon, Anti-Roma hate speech cases before the ECtHR 9: Dezideriu Gergely, Limits and opportunities of desegregation litigation in education in view of European jurisprudence and related developments 10: Helen O'Nions, The right to a home: a comparison of juridical approaches to systemic discrimination in the European Court of Human Rights and the European Committee on Social rights 11: Mária Herczog and Zsolt Körtvélyesi, Addressing Discrimination in Removal of Romani Children from their Families 12: Serena D'agostino and Tina Magazzini, Intersectional Discrimination and Romani Women's (Reproductive) Rights: Pushing the Equity Boundaries Part IV Socio-Legal analysis of strategic Roma rights litigation in European courts 13: Lilla Farkas, The ontology and ethics of Roma rights jurisprudence 14: Julija Sardelic, Revealing human rights boundaries through ECtHR Judges' dissenting opinions: An act of judicial activism? 15: Tamas Kadar and Istvan Haller, The contribution of Equality bodies to countering discrimination against Roma in the EU 16: Gwendolyn Albert, Lilla Farkas and Eva Esther Sobotka, Seeking justice for forcibly sterilized Romani women: human rights field work, advocacy, litigation, policy change 17: Darren O Donovan, Searching for a foothold: Strategic Litigation and Roma/Traveller Housing Campaigns in Europe 18: Maro%s Matia%sko and Marek Szilvasi, Facing Reification of Vulnerability: Roma, Environmental Justice and the Failed Potential of the Hudorovi%c Case