Class action

Relying on Art 2 of Protocol No 1 (right to education) and Art 9 (freedom of thought, conscience and religion), the applicants in Lautsi v Italy (App No 30814/06) complained that religious symbols in classrooms were incompatible with the state’s obligation to respect the right of parents to ensure education was in accordance with their own religious and philosophical convictions. Following a Directive from the Italian Minister of Education, Universities and Research, school governors were required to put crucifixes in classrooms. The national court held that this did not breach the secular nature of the state but symbolised principles and values which formed the foundation of democracy and western civilisation. In a Grand Chamber judgment, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) observed that the obligation on member states to respect religious and philosophical convictions of parents applied not only to the content of teaching but also to the exercise of all the functions which they assumed in relation to education, including the school environment.