CEDH · CASELAW;COMMUNICATEDCASES;ENG — 9 juillet 2024

.s800EAC49 { font-size:12pt } .s379BC09C { margin-top:36pt; margin-bottom:0pt; text-align:right } .sBB9EE52A { font-family:Arial } .s10950C61 { margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt; text-indent:14.2pt; text-align:justify } .s5E1364CA { margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:12pt; text-align:center; page-break-inside:avoid; page-break-after:avoid; font-size:14pt } .s339D85E6 { margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:14pt; text-align:center; page-break-inside:avoid; page-break-after:avoid } .s665E407E { margin-top:66pt; margin-bottom:14pt; text-align:center; page-break-inside:avoid; page-break-after:avoid } .s29100277 { font-family:Arial; font-weight:bold } .sA36B60A1 { font-family:Arial; font-style:italic } Published on 29 July 2024   FOURTH SECTION Application no. 60844/15 Olga Olegivna KOZHUKHAR against Russia lodged on 21 November 2015 communicated on 9 July 2024 SUBJECT MATTER OF THE CASE The application emanates from Russia establishing effective control over Crimea in 2014 and its integration into Russia, inter alia , in the sphere of education. The applicant complains that by issuing her a Russian state bachelor’s diploma in 2015, Russia violated her right to education. Between June 2011 and June 2015, the applicant pursued a bachelor’s degree in Pedagogy at the Crimean Humanitarian University in the city of Armyansk. On 31 October 2014 the “Council of Ministers of the Republic of Crimea” issued a decree transferring the property of a number of Crimean universities, including the Crimean Humanitarian University, for “permanent unpaid usage” to the newly created “Crimean Federal University named after V.I. Vernadskiy”. On 26 June 2015, upon completing her studies, the applicant received a Russian state bachelor’s diploma issued by the latter institution. According to the applicant, this diploma is only recognised in Russia and cannot confirm her credentials in Ukraine or in any other country. Upon relocating to mainland Ukraine, the applicant has been unable to work in her field of specialization or to pursue a higher educational degree based on the diploma she had obtained in Crimea. The applicant did have a possibility to transfer to a different university in mainland Ukraine to continue her studies. However, that would have inevitably required her to relocate to a different region of Ukraine and thus severe the ties with her family residing in the village of Dolynske in Kherson region close to Armyansk. Moreover, the Crimean Humanitarian University was a top institution with excellent faculty and program. The applicant tried to transfer to a different institution in Kherson but had to return to Armyansk because of the gap in curriculum and teaching methods. The applicant believed that it was not necessary to transfer to a different university because the administration of the Crimean Humanitarian University had promised to issue a Ukrainian state diploma even in the circumstances of Crimea being controlled by Russia. The applicant had also hoped that the pressure of the international community would force Russia to continue issuing Ukrainian state diplomas. The applicant complains that by issuing her a Russian state diploma, the respondent State deprived her of the right to education within the meaning of Article 2 of Protocol No. 1 to the Convention. QUESTION TO THE PARTIES Has the applicant been denied the right to education, guaranteed by Article   2 of Protocol No.   1? In particular, is her Russian state diploma recognised in any country except the Russian Federation?