NRDO

Dezideriu Gergely, Recent European Court of Human Rights jurisprudence dismissing the violation of Article 14 of the Convention, including the cases against Romania. Summaries

Abstract: The paper is an overview of the cases before the European Court of Human Rights where the Court decided Article 14 of the European Convention had not been violated. Starting from the information published by ECHR and the cases that are part of the HUDOC database, I analyzed comparatively the applications to the Court, concentrating on those regarding discrimination, that fall under Article 14 of the Convention and Protocol 12.

I created several graphs that create a picture of the ECHR jurisprudence of the last years and I summarized the cases in which a decision was given that there had been no violation of Article 14 of the Convention, including the cases against Romania. Finally, I summarized the decisions given by the European Court of Human Rights during the years 2021-2020 and the decisions against Romania and I commented on the most important features of the jurisprudence on discrimination, from the point of view of Article 14 of the Convention.  Keywords: direct discrimination, indirect discrimination, harassment, European Court of Human Rights, jurisprudence, Article 14, Protocol 12

Adrian Szelmenczi, Drepturile lingvistice ale minorității maghiare în instanțele românești

Abstract: I have tried to identify to what extent the practice of Romanian courts follows or violates the formal obligations Romania entered into regarding (also) the protection of the rights of the Hungarian minority, by ratifying the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities and the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. My investigations have shown that one point of conflict between the Hungarian minority and the representatives of the central authorities, that has ended up in the courts, is the display of some national symbols in the public space. I included the display of some traditional Hungarian names on public buildings and the display of some Hungarian regional symbols of identity, like the flag of the Szekely Land. My research shows that the decisions of the courts have gone, in the vast majority of cases, against the Hungarian minority. I show that in each case the unfavorable decisions violated the provisions of the two Council of Europe conventions on the protection of the identity of national minorities, to which Romania is a party.    

Keywords: linguistic rights, national symbols, judicial authorities, Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities, European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages