22 "RELATING TO CERTAIN ASPECTS OF THE LAWS ON THE USE OF LANGUAGES IN EDUCATION IN BELGIUM" v. BELGIUM (MERITS) JUDGMENT language of education but to the grave and unjustified disturbances caused in private or family life". Consequently, the Belgian Government is "in error in affirming that the Article has nothing to do with the dispute brought before the Court". 4. Article 14 (art. 14) of the Convention provides that: "The enjoyment of the rights and freedoms set forth in this Convention shall be secured without discrimination on any ground such as sex, race, colour, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, association with a national minority, property, birth or other status." Before the Commission, the Applicants do not seem to have indicated very clearly whether or not in their view, the violation of Article 14 (art. 14) presupposes that of one of the Articles which defines the rights and freedoms guaranteed. They have stated, on the other hand, their interpretation of Article 14 (art. 14) on several issues. In the first place they expressed the opinion that the word "secured" implies the existence of obligations upon the Contracting States to take action and not simply a duty to abstain from action. Moreover they admitted that Article 14 (art. 14), despite the categorical words of the French version ("sans distinction aucune"), only forbids distinctions of a "discriminatory" character, a discrimination consisting "of an act or omission attributable to the public authorities" and introducing an inequality of treatment of an arbitrary nature. A distinction designed "to re-establish rather than to destroy equality" or based on "valid reasons" is therefore completely "legitimate". However a "legitimate distinction" sometimes turns in the long run into a "wrongful discrimination" having survived the achievement of its initial aim. Certain discriminations, the gravest ones, derive from the "deliberate will of governments" ("active" discriminations); others have their "origin in factors of an economic, social or political nature" or in "historical circumstances" ("static" discriminations). On this point, the Applicants have cited extracts from a report of Mr. Charles Ammoun (Lebanon) drawn up in 1956 for the United Nations Commission on Human Rights. They also referred many times to the Convention and the Recommendation "against discrimination in education" adopted on 14th December 1960 by the General Conference of UNESCO. The Belgian Government had submitted, before the Commission, that "a violation of Article 14 (art. 14) without simultaneous violation of another Article of the Convention is legally impossible"; it based its argument on the words "rights and freedoms set forth in this Convention" and on the decisions of the Commission. Since then there has been a change in its views on this matter. During the first phase of the proceedings before the Court (preliminary objection), the Belgian Government emphasised that Article 14 (art. 14) does not form part of the enumeration of rights and freedoms in Articles 2-13 of the Convention (art. 2, art. 3, art. 4, art. 5, art. 6, art. 7, art. 8, art. 9, art. 10, art. 11, art. 12, art. 13) and Articles 1-3 of the