The European Roma Rights Centre (ERRC) is a Roma-led international public interest law organisation working to combat anti-Romani racism and human rights abuse of Roma through strategic litigation, research and policy development, advocacy and human rights education.

Since its establishment in 1996, the ERRC has endeavoured to provide Roma with the tools necessary to combat discrimination and achieve equal access to justice, education, housing, health care and public services.

The ERRC has consultative status with the Council of Europe, as well as with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations. The ERRC has been the recipient of numerous awards for its efforts to advance human rights respect of Roma: in 2018, Access to Justice Award, in 2018, Columbia Global Freedom of Expression Prize, in 2018, Raoul Wallenberg Prize, in 2013, PL Foundation Freedom Prize; in 2012, Stockholm Human Rights Award; in 2010, the Silver Rose Award of SOLIDAR; in 2009, the Justice Prize of the Peter and Patricia Gruber Foundation; in 2007, the Max van der Stoel award given by the High Commissioner on National Minorities and the Dutch Foreign Ministry; and in 2001, the Geuzenpenning award (the Geuzen medal of honour) by Her Royal Highness Princess Margriet of Netherlands.

Legal form

Foundation

Objectives

The ERRC’s main goal is not to defeat antigypsyism in any one thematic area or country, but to expose its breadth and perverse variety, and to enable Romani organisations and individuals to use a rights-based approach – especially litigation – to defeat it.

Main Activities

Our work is currently concentrated in the following thematic areas:

• Education
• Environment
• Migration
• Identity
• Police
• Health
• Childhood

 

Strengths

As one of the leading NGOs working on Roma rights issues in Europe, the ERRC has:

• Exposed and condemned the systemic abuse of Roma rights across Europe;
• Focused public attention and political priorities on the human rights situation of Roma in Europe;
• Contributed to the development of public interest law in the region, through litigation and legal training in the field of Roma rights;
• Secured access to justice and redress for human rights violations for Roma across Europe;
• Developed significant jurisprudence on discrimination in access to education and the state response to racially-motivated violence through a series of landmark cases before the European Court of Human Rights;
• Influenced the human rights aspects of EU enlargement, through monitoring of compliance with the “Copenhagen criteria” by EU candidate countries and ensuring that the situation of Roma is addressed as a priority issue by both EU Member States and candidate countries;
• Written several significant policy documents on behalf of the European Commission (Roma in an Enlarged European Union) and the Fundamental Rights Agency (Housing Conditions of Roma and Travellers in the EU and The Situation of Roma EU Citizens Moving to and Settling in Other EU Member States); and
• Become one of the leading advocates in implementing anti-discrimination and human rights law in Europe.

Finance and Main Partners

The ERRC is governed by a multinational Board of Directors consisting of Romani and non-Romani lawyers, human rights activists and businesspeople.

The ERRC receives funding from a number of sources, including private foundations, international organisations and governments.  Further information about current donors is available upon request.

The ERRC maintains the highest standards of fiscal accountability, through staff and Board oversight and annual audits by external auditors according to the standards issued by the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC).

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