Executive summary

AuthorJakub Tomsej
Pages5-10
5
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
1. Introduction
Society in Czechia, a country with a population of 10.5 million, has become increasingly
homogenous during its post-war history. In 1945, as part of the settlements following the
Second World War, legislation was approved to expatriate most Germans (the largest
minority in Czechoslovakia) and Hungarians. The majority of the Czechoslovak Roma and
Jewish populations had perished in German concentration camps and many members of
the Jewish minority who survived the Holocaust were expatriated as German nationals.
The traditional doctrine of ‘Czechoslovak national identity’, cultivated since the count ry’s
independence in 1918, was abandoned by post-war communist governments, when
separate Czech and Slovak nationalist trends finally prevailed. The Czechoslovak
Federation was established in 1969 and was finally dissolved in 1993 when the separate
countries of Czechia and the Slovak Republic were formed.
Furthermore, the legacy of the 40-year communist regime has had a negative effect on
Czechia, attributing formalistic and imprecise meanings to justice and the rule of law. One
of the tasks of the Czech anti-discrimination legislation is therefore to overcome the narrow
and formalised perceptions of equal treatment and protection against discrimination held
by public and political bodies.
During the communist regime, a number of measures against the Roma community were
introduced. In 1959, a nomadic style of life was prohibited and measures were
implemented to disperse Roma people across the Czechoslovak territory in permanent
settlements. Roma language and culture was suppressed. Roma people were depicted as
unwilling to work and adhere to laws. Today, the introduction of special measures in
education and employment to balance disadvantages encountered by the Roma minority
is still perceived by the majority of the public as giving ‘unjustified ad vantages’ on the
ground of ethnic origin.
Securing equal access to mainstream education for Roma children is still problematic. This
issue had been previously highlighted by decisions and reports by various Council of Europe
and UN bodies, including the European Court of Human Rights in its judgment D.H. and
others v. the Czech Republic of 2006. In 2014, infringement proceedings were initiated by
the European Commission and are still on-going. Case law from the Czech courts, as well
as legal opinions given by the Czech Ombudsman (the equality body) show that this issue
is still very current.1 Although legislative measures have been taken to avoid any
discrimination against Roma, it appears that the current mindset of Czech society may still
lead to segregation of Roma pupils and other undesirable phenomena.
2. Main legislation
Czechia has ratified all the instruments for combating discrimination within the two main
international human rights systems, the United Nations and the Council of Europe,
including the UNESCO Convention against Discrimination in Education, ILO Convention No.
111 and the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial
Discrimination. Czechia is also a party to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights
and Fundamental Freedoms, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and
1 See e.g. Constitutional Court (Ústavní soud), no. III. ÚS 1136/13, 12 August 2015
https://www.usoud.cz/fileadmin/user_upload/ustavni_soud_www/Decisions/pdf/3-1136-13-A.pdf. In this
judgment, the Constitutional Court did not find discrimination although it clearly referred to the test of
indirect discrimination established in case law of ECtHR. The Czech Ombudsman criticised a director’s
attempt to restrict the number of Roma pupils accepted in the first year of a primary school and found direct
discrimination in this case. Public Defender of Rights, Legal opinion No. 5202/2014/VOP, 16 April 2015;
http://eso.ochrance.cz/Nalezene/Edit/2812.

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