We have filed an appeal on points of law with the Supreme Court of the Slovak Republic in our long-running strategic litigation concerning the segregation of Romani women in the maternity ward of the Prešov hospital.

Since 2013, we have been seeking protection against discrimination in this case, arguing that the practice of placing Romani women giving birth in separate hospital rooms constitutes discriminatory treatment on the grounds of ethnic origin.

In these proceedings, we challenge not only the responsibility of the hospital but also the responsibility of the State, in particular the Ministry of Health of the Slovak Republic, to adopt effective measures to eliminate discrimination in healthcare and to prevent such discriminatory practices.

The lower courts confirmed that the Ministry of Health has a duty to adopt measures aimed at eliminating discrimination and preventing it. At the same time, however, they concluded that, in their view, insufficient evidence had been presented to establish that discriminatory treatment had occurred.

We disagree with this legal conclusion. We are convinced that our arguments are firmly grounded in the applicable law and established case law. Therefore, we have filed an appeal on points of law with the Supreme Court of the Slovak Republic, requesting that it quash the judgments of the lower courts.

We believe that the Supreme Court’s decision will contribute to strengthening protection against discrimination in healthcare and ensuring effective protection of the rights of all patients.

This case is not only about one maternity hospital. It raises the fundamental question of whether all women, regardless of their ethnic origin, will enjoy the right to equal, dignified, and non-discriminatory treatment in the provision of healthcare.

The decision of the appellate court is available in anonymised form in Slovak here.