On 17 October in the case of Winterstein v France the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) ruled that France had violated the rights under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) of 95 members of the Travelling community who were subject to eviction proceedings. Article 8 protects privacy and family life.
Eviction proceedings were brought against a number of Traveller families who had been living in the same place for many years. They occupied the land unlawfully but with the toleration of the municipal authorities. The French courts ordered the families’ evictions. While the orders were not actually enforced, many of the families moved out. Only four families were provided with alternative accommodation in social housing.
Holding that the eviction order was a disproportionate interference with the applicants’ rights under Article 8, the court noted that notwithstanding the lack of urgency in the eviction proceedings, the domestic courts had not taken into account the applicants’ lengthy residence in the area and their right to housing.
The court highlighted that in cases of forced eviction of Roma and travellers a number of international instruments require the provision of alternative accommodation. The national authorities were obliged to pay special consideration to the needs of the applicants as a vulnerable minority and to their distinctive way of life in devising solutions to the unlawful occupation of land.
International Movement ATD Fourth World, an NGO which engages with individuals and institutions to find solutions to extreme poverty, were also applicants in the case.
Bulletin readers may recall that a complaint has been submitted to the European Committee of Social Rights regarding Ireland’s housing policy in relation to Travellers. The complaint was brought by the European Roma Rights Centre, who argue that Ireland’s housing policy indirectly discriminates against Travellers through the use of summary and arbitrary evictions. Click here for more information.
Click here to read an article on the case from the Irish Human Rights Blog.