Ádám and Others v. Romania, Nos. 81114/17, 49716/18, 50913/18, ECtHR (Fourth Section), 13 October 2020

Alleged discrimination during high school final examinations against pupils belonging to national minorities who follow the school curriculum in their mother tongue.

Art. 14 ECHR
Art. 1 Prot. 12 ECHR
Art. 8 ECHR

1. In principle, the same standards as those developed by the Court in its case law concerning the protection afforded by Article 14 ECHR are applicable to cases brought under Article 1 of Protocol No 12 ECHR. Including those relating to the positive obligations on States Parties to make the necessary distinctions between persons or groups whose factual situations are significantly different.

2. The fact that the applicants chose to follow the school curriculum in the language of the national minority to which they belonged and that as a result their baccalaureate examination was organised differently by the school authorities from that administered to their Romanian-speaking peers is a matter relevant to the alleged difference in treatment. However, this did not place them in a different situation significant enough for Article 1 of Protocol No 12 ECHR to apply.
(The applicants, Hungarian-speaking graduates, complained that they had less time to prepare for their baccalaureate examinations than their Romanian-speaking peers and that they were therefore subject to discrimination).