Review article
https://doi.org/10.32984/gapzh.14.1.5
Standards of the European Court of Human Rights regarding the Penalization of Beggary in the Context of Indirect Discrimination and the Protection of Victims of Human Trafficking: Analysis of the Case Lacatus v. Switzerland
Suzana Bardić Derenčinović
; Faculty of Law – University of Zagreb
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* Corresponding author.
Abstract
The paper analyzes the European Court of Human Rights judgment in the case of Lacatus v. Switzerland, in which the Court found a violation of the applicant’s right to private and family life under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights. This judgment in the proceedings initiated by a member of the Roma national minority, who was prosecuted and punished by the state authorities in Switzerland for begging, opened numerous questions regarding this phenomenon and its links with indirect discrimination and the protection of victims of human trafficking. These are the questions that the paper deals with, starting from the practice and standards of the European Court of Human Rights and other bodies of the Council of Europe, such as the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) and the Group of Experts of the Council of Europe for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings (GRETA). In conclusion, the author offers suggestions for improvement both in terms of the operative activities of the competent law enforcement authorities in European countries in the context of Roma begging as a trigger for investigating human trafficking, as well as in the approach of the European Court of Human Rights when it comes to the indirect discrimination of the Roma population.
Keywords
begging, private and family life, Roma, discrimination, human trafficking
Hrčak ID:
310074
URI
Publication date:
24.11.2023.
Visits: 327 *