Kovács and Others v. Hungary, dec., Nos. 21314/15 and other 3, ECtHR (Fourth Section Committee), 29 January 2019

Prohibition of inhuman or degrading treatment. Violent behavior by police officers driven by ethnic or racial biases. Proportionality principle in the use of force. Prohibition of discrimination.  Burden of proof.

Art. 3 ECHR 
Art. 14 ECHR

1. The use of force during a police check is justified only in so far as physical coercion is proportional to an actual threat from the interested parties (case in which two Roma individuals had suffered serious injuries following a police check and the agents had justified the need to resort to physical duress because of the applicants' verbal aggression).
2. In the absence of convincing evidence, disclosing any appearance of discriminatory conduct on the part of the police, the burden of proving that the behavior of police officers was not determined by ethnic bias does not fall on the respondent State.