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These pages do not apply outside the United Kingdom.
(though people in other countries covered by the European Convention on Human Rights may also find this page interesting) |
The right to education in the European Convention on Human Rights, coupled with the Human Rights Act 1998, may give a right to have a stammer properly taken into account in the education field. This is strengthened by the right under Article 14 not to be discriminated against in education.
However it will normally be much easier to rely on the DDA rules on schools and post-16 institutions, and/or the Special Educational Needs framework, perhaps using the Human Rights Act to help interpret or supplement them if needed.
Article 2 of the First Protocol to the European Convention on Human Rights reads
"No person shall be denied the right to education. In the exercise of any functions that it assumes in relation to education and to teaching, the State shall respect the right of parents to ensure such education and teaching in conformity with their own religious and philosophical convictions."
(The UK has accepted the second sentence "only in so far as it is compatible with the provision of efficient instruction and training, and the avoidance of unreasonable public expenditure.")
The right to education in the first sentence has been held to include the following (Belgian Linguistic case and Campbell and Cosans v UK):
The right to an effective education is particularly important for anyone wanting a disability to be adequately taken into account in their education. In the case of S.P v UK, the European Commission on Human Rights declared inadmissible a complaint that a child's particular learning disabilities were not adequately taken into account. However, UK domestic courts looking at these issues may be called upon to examine educational provision more critically.
Under Article 14 of the Convention, the enjoyment of the rights and freedoms set out in the Convention must be secured without discrimination on various grounds. There is little doubt that these grounds include disability. Discrimination falling within the 'ambit' (scope) of the right to education discussed above will contravene Article 14, even if there is no breach of the right to education taken on its own..
"Discrimination" has a particular meaning in the Convention context. More on Convention meaning of 'Discrimination'...
Other Articles of the Convention may help in particular cases, for example Article 3 (inhuman or degrading treatment) in the case of fairly extreme mistreatment. In Costello-Roberts the court held with some misgivings that three blows by a headmaster on the clothed buttocks of a seven year old boy fell short of the minimum level of severity required to infringe Article 3.
So far as an educational institution is a 'public authority, it can be sued for breach of Article 14 or other Convention obligations, without having to find some other cause of action to hang the claim on. For more on giving effect to the European Convention through the Human Rights Act, see the main Human Rights Act page
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© Allan Tyrer 2000-2008
Last updated 7th December, 2008
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