EUROPEAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS IN ACTION / Alla Tymofeyeva (ed.)

Article 2 of Protocol No. 1 to the Convention Right to education

No person shall be denied the right to education. In the exercise of any functions which 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. General principles of the Court In interpreting and applying Article 2 of Protocol No. 1, the Court must have regard to the fact that its context is a treaty for the effective protection of individual human rights and that the Convention must be read as a whole, and interpreted in such a way as to promote internal consistency and harmony between its various provisions ( Stec and Others v. the United Kingdom (dec.) [GC], nos. 65731/01 and 65900/01, § 48, ECHR 2005-X; Austin and Others v. the United Kingdom [GC], nos. 39692/09, 40713/09 and 41008/09, § 54, 15 March 2012). The two sentences of Article 2 of Protocol No. 1 must therefore be read not only in the light of each other but also, in particular, of Articles 8, 9 and 10 of the Convention which proclaim the right of everyone, including parents and children, “to respect for his private and family life”, to “freedom of thought, conscience and religion”, and to “freedom … to receive and impart information and ideas” (see Kjeldsen, Busk Madsen and Pedersen v. Denmark , judgment of 7 December 1976, Series A no. 23, § 52; Folgerø and Others v. Norway [GC], no. 15472/02, § 84, ECHR 2007‑III; Lautsi and Others v. Italy [GC], no. 30814/06, § 60, ECHR 2011 (extracts); see also Cyprus v. Turkey [GC], no. 25781/94, § 278, ECHR 2001‑IV). In interpreting and applying this provision, account must also be taken of any relevant rules and principles of international law applicable in relations between the Contracting Parties and the Convention should so far as possible be interpreted in harmony with other rules of international law of which it forms part (see Al-Adsani v. the United Kingdom [GC], no. 35763/97, § 55, ECHR 2001-XI; Demir and Baykara v. Turkey [GC], no. 34503/97, § 67, ECHR 2008; Saadi v. the United Kingdom [GC], no. 13229/03, § 62, ECHR 2008-…; Rantsev v. Cyprus and Russia , no. 25965/04, §§ 273- 274, ECHR 2010 (extracts)). The provisions relating to the right to education set out in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Convention against Discrimination in Education, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination and the Convention on the Rights of the Child are therefore of relevance (see paragraphs 77-81 above, and see also Timishev v. Russia , nos. 55762/00 and 55974/00, § 64, ECHR 2005‑XI). Finally, the Court emphasises that the object and purpose of the Convention, as an instrument for the protection of individual human beings, requires that its provisions be interpreted and applied so as to make its safeguards practical and effective (see, inter alia , Soering v. the United Kingdom , 7 July 1989, § 87, Series A no. 161; and Artico v. Italy , 13 May 1980, § 33, Series A no. 37). By binding themselves, in the first sentence of Article 2 of Protocol No. 1, not to “deny the right to education”, the Contracting States guarantee to anyone within their jurisdiction a right of access to educational institutions existing at a given time (see Case “relating to certain aspects of the laws on the use of languages in education in Belgium” , judgment of 23 July 1968, Series A no. 6, §§ 3-4). This right of access constitutes only a part of the right to education set out in the first sentence. For the right to be effective, it is further necessary that, inter alia , the individual who is the beneficiary should have the possibility of drawing profit from the education received, that is to say, the right to obtain, in conformity with the rules in force in each State, and in one form or another, official recognition of the studies which he has completed ( Case “relating to certain aspects of the laws on the use of languages in education in Belgium” , cited above, § 4). Moreover, although the text of Article 2 of Protocol No. 1 does not specify the language in which education must be conducted, the right to education would be meaningless if it did not

EUROPEAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS IN ACTION

85