European Roma Rights Centre (ERRC)

What European Roma Rights Centre (ERRC) does

The European Roma Rights Centre (ERRC) is a Roma-led international human rights non-profit organisation founded in 1996 and headquartered in Brussels, Belgium. ERRC's core function is strategic litigation, advocacy, and research challenging systemic discrimination (antigypsyism) against Romani people across Europe. It represents Romani individuals and communities in cases of police brutality, housing discrimination, educational segregation, hate speech, gender-based violence, and denial of social rights, pursuing cases through domestic courts and supranational mechanisms including the European Court of Human Rights and the European Committee of Social Rights. Its substantive outputs include litigation interventions, country-specific reports, the Roma Rights Review journal, The Romani Tea Room podcast, training materials, and the Operation ENTOS Police Raid Tracker (a documentation tool monitoring police raids on Greek Roma communities).

ERRC operates the Roma Rights Network, a coalition of 33 member organisations across 21 European countries launched in 2022 to coordinate advocacy and produce joint declarations. The organisation is led by President Đorđe Jovanović, Advocacy & Communications Director Jonathan Lee, and Editor Bernard Rorke (who also teaches a Roma Rights course at Central European University). ERRC is funded primarily through institutional grants — with the European Union explicitly identified as a significant funder — supplemented by individual donations solicited via its website. With approximately 30 staff, ERRC operates with a lean team that delivers pan-European impact through a hybrid model combining direct legal representation, third-party interventions before European bodies, coalition coordination, and public communications. In 2025–2026, ERRC secured precedent-setting judgments including the ECtHR ruling against the Czech Republic in the Stanislav Tomáš police-murder case and a Romanian Court of Appeal ruling on indirect housing discrimination in Cluj-Napoca, underscoring its litigation track record.

Name

European Roma Rights Centre (ERRC)

Legal name

European Roma Rights Centre

Website

https://errc.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1996

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

European Roma Rights Centre (ERRC) is a Roma-led international human rights non-profit founded in 1996 and headquartered in Brussels. It challenges antigypsyism across Europe through strategic litigation before the ECtHR, advocacy, research, and the Roma Rights Network coalition of 33 organisations in 21 countries.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Human Rights Advocacy

NAICS

Human Rights Organizations (813311), Social Assistance (624)

SIC

Services-Legal Services (8111), Services-Social Services (8300), International Affairs (9721)

akta.pro primary industry

Racial & Ethnic Justice Organizations (BPAGAFAC)

akta.pro secondary industries

Human Rights & Anti-Discrimination Organizations (BPAGAFAB), Immigrant & Refugee Rights Advocacy (BPAGAFAG), Refugee & Immigrant Support Services (BPAGAEAI)

Keywords

• Human rights advocacy
• Strategic litigation
• Anti-discrimination legal
• Roma civil rights
• Policy advocacy research

Headquarters

HQ city

Brussels, Brussels Region

HQ country

Belgium

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Institutional Grants and EU Funding: ERRC receives funding from institutional donors including the European Union. The EU is referenced as a funding source for the Roma Rights Network and other ERRC activities. Funding supports strategic litigation, advocacy, and coalition-building operations.
2. Donations: ERRC solicits public donations via its website (errc.org/get-involved/donate). Individual donors contribute to support the organization's mission of challenging discrimination against Romani people across Europe.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

The European Roma Rights Centre is a Roma-led strategic litigation organisation that challenges discrimination against Romani people across Europe. Its core offerings include legal representation and strategic litigation before the European Court of Human Rights, policy advocacy and thematic research on antigypsyism, human rights training materials, and the Roma Rights Review journal. All services are provided free of charge to beneficiaries.

Product overview

The European Roma Rights Centre is a Roma-led international human rights organization, not a commercial product company. Its primary offerings are strategic litigation services, advocacy and research publications, and public education resources. The organization operates a website platform for disseminating news, press releases, research reports, and the Roma Rights Review journal. Key documented tools include the Operation ENTOS Police Raid Tracker, an investigative documentation system tracking police raids on Romani communities in Greece. Additional offerings include the Romani Tea Room podcast, training materials, and the Roma Rights Network coalition of 33 member organizations across 21 European countries.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Roma Rights Defenders: Active volunteer section of the European Roma Rights Centre where individuals and groups engage voluntarily with ERRC projects in cooperation with staff.
• Roma Rights Network

Products and services

• Strategic Litigation

Quantifiable outcome

• European Court of Human Rights awarded €52,240 in damages to three Romani men brutalised by Greek police in 2016
• +5 more outcomes

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core and secondary.

• Roma Rights NetworkcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2022ERRC launched the Roma Rights Network in 2022 as a coalition bringing together Roma and non-Roma activists committed to defending Romani human rights. The Network comprises 33 member organisations across 21 European countries, holds annual meetings (most recently in Paris in May 2026), and coordinates joint advocacy, declarations, and campaigns including the 'State of Crisis' declaration signed by all 33 members.
• Bulgarian Helsinki CommitteecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerBulgarian Helsinki Committee lawyer Iveta Savova represented applicants in ECtHR cases concerning anti-Roma hate speech by far-right politician Valeri Simeonov. The ERRC submitted a third-party intervention in the cases. Bulgarian Helsinki Committee serves as a key legal partner for ERRC litigation in Bulgaria.
• Association Initiative for Women's Rights from Suto OrizaricoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerERRC commissioned the Association Initiative for Women's Rights from Suto Orizari to research domestic and gender-based violence against Romani women in North Macedonia since the adoption of the Istanbul Convention in 2017. The resulting report exposes barriers Romani women face in reporting domestic violence and provides recommendations.
• Roma Women's Rights Centre (Qëndra Për të Drejtat e Gruas Rome)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner organisation in Albania. Lawyer Manjola Veizi from this organisation documents discrimination against Romani families facing eviction and exclusion in Shkodër, Albania. ERRC and the Roma Women's Rights Centre are investigating the situation and considering all legal options.
• Greek Helsinki MonitorcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Greek Helsinki Monitor serves as the ERRC's Roma Rights Network partner in Greece, jointly tracking and documenting police raids on Romani communities under Operation ENTOS. Panayote Dimitras from the organisation provides expert commentary and legal monitoring. Together they maintain the ENTOS Police Raid Tracker.
• Centre for Support of Women Victims of Gender-Based and Domestic Violence ISI ARKAsecondaryStrategic or Co-development PartnerISI ARKA, located in Suto Orizari, North Macedonia, documents barriers Romani women face when reporting domestic violence. ERRC references ISI ARKA's findings in its advocacy on gender-based violence against Romani women in North Macedonia.
• UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Education (Farida Shaheed)secondaryStrategic or Co-development PartnerERRC's research and documentation on segregation of Romani children in Hungarian schools informed the findings of UN Special Rapporteur Farida Shaheed during her 2025 visit to Hungary, reinforcing ERRC's advocacy on educational discrimination.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Open Society Foundations: Major Roma-rights funder and advocacy network that previously employed ERRC's Editor Bernard Rorke. Comparable mission focus on Roma inclusion across Central and Eastern Europe, although OSF operates primarily as a funder rather than a litigation organisation.
• ILGA-Europe: European region of the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association, operating as a Brussels-based pan-European coalition advancing minority rights through advocacy and litigation support. Strong structural parallel to ERRC's pan-European coalition model.
• Roma Education Fund: Soros-initiated organisation focused specifically on educational inclusion of Roma, directly adjacent to one of ERRC's core litigation themes (educational segregation). Highly comparable beneficiary population and thematic overlap, narrower topical scope.
• European Disability Forum: Brussels-based pan-European umbrella organization representing disability rights NGOs across EU member states. Closely analogous operational model to ERRC's Brussels-based coalition coordinating 33+ member organizations across European countries.
• European Network Against Racism (ENAR): Pan-European anti-racism coalition headquartered in Brussels, coordinating member NGOs across EU member states on racial equality advocacy. Directly comparable to ERRC's pan-European network model and Brussels-based EU-facing advocacy, with a broader racial-equality mandate.
• European Center for Minority Issues (ECMI): European research and advocacy organization working on minority rights, including Roma, through policy analysis, research, and engagement with European institutions. Closely comparable thematic focus and Brussels-adjacent operating profile.

Broad incumbents

• Human Rights Watch: International human rights organization producing in-depth country research, advocacy before international bodies, and litigation support. Closely comparable to ERRC in methodology (research → advocacy → pressure on governments) and comparable scale of output.
• Amnesty International: Global human rights organization conducting strategic litigation, advocacy, and research across multiple marginalised groups, including Roma. Highly comparable operating model to ERRC's combination of litigation, advocacy, and country-specific reporting, though with broader thematic scope.
• FIDH - International Federation for Human Rights: International federation coordinating human rights NGOs, including strategic litigation support and joint advocacy before international bodies. Comparable network-of-NGOs structure and litigation-oriented methodology.

Emerging players

• Decade of Roma Inclusion Secretariat Foundation: Multi-country initiative coordinating Roma inclusion policy among European governments. Comparable focus on cross-country Roma policy coordination, but operates through intergovernmental convening rather than litigation.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/errc

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about European Roma Rights Centre (ERRC)