ABSTRACT
The right to education is enshrined in numerous treaties and in most state constitutions although precise scope of this right differs to some extent in these legal instruments. The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic unmasked both the core of the right to education and its wider implications. It also pointed to the shortcomings in the effective governmental and judicial protection of this right, as can be illustrated in the case of the Czech Republic.
This chapter aims to expose the broader picture of the right to education, in contrast with rather limited focus on the institutional dimension of this right, understood as the ‘right to receive education’. This tension is further developed in the second part of the chapter in the case of Czech legislation and governmental actions. The third part analyses the possibilities of judicial review of the extraordinary measures by discussing the procedural requirements of this review, the outcomes of the substantive review, as well as an assessment of the conflicting rights and public interests which were at stake. In conclusion, the author draws several general lessons from the restrictions imposed on the right to education in the pandemic-linked State of Emergency in the Czech Republic.
