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Public Hearing

The European Committee of Social Rights will hold a hearing in the case Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions (COHRE) v. Italy (No. 58/2009). The hearing  will take place in Hearing Room II of the European Court of Human Rights on 21 June 2010 at 3 pm. All relevant case documents  are available on the Collective Complaint webpage.

Background information

The complaint was registered on 29 May 2009 and declared admissible by the European Committee of Social Rights on 8 December 2009. COHRE asks the Committee to find that Italy violates various provisions of the European Social Charter (revised) in that:

- Recent so-called emergency security measures and racist and xenophobic discourse have resulted in unlawful campaigns and evictions leading to homelessness and expulsions, disproportionately targeting Roma and Sinti, in breach of Articles 16 (Right of the family to social, legal and economic protection) and 31 (Right to housing) of the Revised Charter, read alone or in conjunction with Article E (non-discrimination clause),

- Italy has allegedly failed to provide migrant workers and their families with protection and assistance notably as regards access to housing and legal redress in cases of forced evictions and expulsions, in breach of Article 19 (Right of migrant workers and their families to protection and assistance) read alone or in conjuction with Article E (non-discrimination clause),

- The practice of segregation and denial of legal status and social benefits results in failure to protect Roma and Sinti from poverty and social exclusion in breach of Article 30 (Right to be protected against poverty and social exclusion).

The Government asks the Committee to find that the situation of Roma and Sinti in Italy does not give rise to a violation of the Revised Charter as the Italian authorities have invested resources and taken numerous concrete measures to effectively guarantee Article E combined with Articles 16, 19, 30 and 31.