How does the measure of placing children or young people in conflict with the law in an institutional re-education institutions (diagnostic institute/center, children’s home with a school, educational institute, or re-education center) affect their safeguards guaranteed by European legislation (in particular Directive 2016/800)? And why does this practice disproportionately affect children and young people who face structural disadvantages (poverty, social exclusion, …
New projects FLARE and EQUAL
This year, FORUM became a proud partner in two new two-year European projects, FLARE and EQUAL, both primarily focused on strengthening the rights of Roma communities. We are very pleased to be part of these important initiatives and to collaborate with our partners. 1. FLARE – Fundamental Rights, Litigation, Awareness Raising, and Equality (October 2025 – September 2027) The overall objective …
Transnational Workshop in Prague (5–6 June): Ending Child Immigration Detention through UN Treaty Bodies and the European Committee of Social Rights
RELEASE Project I On 5-6 June 2025, Forum for Human Rights and the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ), and partners organized a two-day transnational workshop in Prague on the United Nations (UN) Treaty Bodies and the European Committee of Social Rights (ECSR). Lawyers from Belgium, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Greece, Malta, and Poland, along with international experts engaged in an exchange …
A new analysis emphasizes the need for legal protection of informal caregivers
The new analysis, Informal Care and Human Rights: The Right to Care from the Perspective of Informal Caregivers, is now available. Written by one of our lawyers, Maroš Matiaško, in cooperation with the Abakus Foundation as part of efforts to advocate for greater service accessibility, the analysis focuses on the legal status of informal caregivers, a topic that remains largely overlooked. …
Abakus Foundation supports our new project
We are pleased to present our latest partnership with the Abakus Foundation with whose support FORUM will begin implementing the project Social Services – Strategic Litigation from January 2024. The project focuses on strategic litigation in the area of the inaccessibility of social services for people with disabilities, particularly children and young adults with psychosocial and intellectual disabilities. The financial grant from the Abakus Foundation …
FORUM filed an amicus curiae in Valchář v. Czech Republic
For two years now, FORUM has been implementing a project funded by the UN Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture that provides legal aid to victims of torture and other forms of ill-treatment. FORUM has been representing a number of cases pending before different domestic levels that concern inaccessible redress for victims of torture or other forms of ill-treatment, including police …
New Czech volunteer-led research & legal action shows how Roma combat online hate
Brussels, Prague, 24 January 2024: Young Romani activists, part of a volunteer-led project to record and litigate against online hate speech in the Czech Republic, have today released a publication exposing the state of online hate against Roma in the country as well as a policy guide detailing what the government must do if it wants to effectively challenge it. The …
FORUM and EIN join forces to implement freedom of expression judgments in Slovakia
We are thrilled to announce our cooperation with the European Implementation Network (EIN) in their new project focused on safeguarding freedom of expression in the Council of Europe member States. As a participant to this project, we are dedicated to promoting this fundamental right and the effective implementation of the relevant judgments of the European Court of Human Rights, as well as to advocating for …
Lawyers and volunteers jointly against online hate
Forum for Human Rights (FORUM) in cooperation with the group of volunteers active on socia media as ROMAntics and the European Roma Rights Centre (ERRC) have lodged six criminal complaints against individuals who have posted anti-Roma hate speech on social media platforms such as Facebook and YouTube in Slovakia. The complaints are all against individuals who have posted racist statements calling for …
We fight against environmental injustice
Forum for Human Rights (FORUM) in cooperation with the European Roma Rights Centre (ERRC) have brought a collective complaint against the municipality of Martin, Slovakia on behalf of Romani families living dangerously near to a landfill on the outskirts of the city. The Roma were relocated to the segregated community named ‘Bambusky’ by the municipality in the late 1990’s, with more …