Schools and Positive Obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights: What Implications for Democracy in Europe?
Schools are crucial institutions in democracy. They are hubs of community togetherness, often the first place where children experience the power of the state, and crucial places of academic learning and socialisation vital for downstream rights and the ability to participate in democratic society. Equally, positive obligations have long been considered the “hallmark” of the European Court of Human Rights, which defines minimum obligations to comply with the ECHR, including what Council of Europe member states must do to secure respect for human rights in schools. Yet, no scholars have looked comprehensively at what positive obligations exist in relation to schooling in the member states of the Council of Europe. This is surprising as a brief survey of the case-law indicates that positive obligations actually play a significant role in defining the rights and obligations that exist vis-à-vis schools in a number of diverse areas, from keeping children safe in school to undoing histories of racial discrimination in schools to reasonably accommodating schoolchildren with disabilities. In line with this, this project seeks to typologise, conceptualise and theorise regarding the link between positive obligations and schools under the ECHR, utilising Amy Guttman’s pioneering book Democratic Education as a frame.
