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CATAN AND OTHERS v. MOLDOVA AND RUSSIA JUDGMENT
B. The Court’s assessment
1. General principles
136. In interpreting and applying Article 2 of Protocol No. 1, the Court
must have regard to the fact that its context is a treaty for the effective
protection of individual human rights and that the Convention must be read
as a whole, and interpreted in such a way as to promote internal consistency
and harmony between its various provisions (Stec and Others v. the United
Kingdom (dec.) [GC], nos. 65731/01 and 65900/01, § 48, ECHR 2005-X;
Austin and Others v. the United Kingdom [GC], nos. 39692/09, 40713/09
and 41008/09, § 54, 15 March 2012). The two sentences of Article 2 of
Protocol No. 1 must therefore be read not only in the light of each other but
also, in particular, of Articles 8, 9 and 10 of the Convention which proclaim
the right of everyone, including parents and children, “to respect for his
private and family life”, to “freedom of thought, conscience and religion”,
and to “freedom ... to receive and impart information and ideas” (see
Kjeldsen, Busk Madsen and Pedersen v. Denmark, judgment of 7 December
1976, Series A no. 23, § 52; Folgerø and Others v. Norway [GC], no.
15472/02, § 84, ECHR 2007-III; Lautsi and Others v. Italy [GC], no.
30814/06, § 60, ECHR 2011 (extracts); see also Cyprus v. Turkey [GC], no.
25781/94, § 278, ECHR 2001-IV). In interpreting and applying this
provision, account must also be taken of any relevant rules and principles of
international law applicable in relations between the Contracting Parties and
the Convention should so far as possible be interpreted in harmony with
other rules of international law of which it forms part (see Al-Adsani v. the
United Kingdom [GC], no. 35763/97, § 55, ECHR 2001-XI; Demir and
Baykara v. Turkey [GC], no. 34503/97, § 67, ECHR 2008; Saadi v. the
United Kingdom [GC], no. 13229/03, § 62, ECHR 2008-...; Rantsev
v. Cyprus and Russia, no. 25965/04, §§ 273-274, ECHR 2010 (extracts)).
The provisions relating to the right to education set out in the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights, the Convention against Discrimination in
Education, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural
Rights, the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Racial Discrimination and the Convention on the Rights of the Child are
therefore of relevance (see paragraphs 77-81 above, and see also Timishev
v. Russia, nos. 55762/00 and 55974/00, § 64, ECHR 2005-XI). Finally, the
Court emphasises that the object and purpose of the Convention, as an
instrument for the protection of individual human beings, requires that its
provisions be interpreted and applied so as to make its safeguards practical
and effective (see, inter alia, Soering v. the United Kingdom, 7 July 1989,
§ 87, Series A no. 161; and Artico v. Italy, 13 May 1980, § 33, Series A
no. 37).