The German State has not violated the rights of children or parents in its suppression of homeschooling, according to a ruling of the European Court of Human rights.

The practice has been banned in Germany since the Nazi era and authorities have been relentless in stamping out instances of it.

The couple in this case saw their children seized in a police raid in August 2013. The children were not returned to their home and parents for three weeks, and only on condition that they attend a State school. The Wunderlich family took a case to the European Court of Human Rights, but a ruling yesterday said the German authorities did not violate the family’s fundamental rights.

The Wunderlich family had argued that the government had violated Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which guarantees protection for the privacy of home and family life, by forcing their four children to attend a local school.

The court, however, said that the family had not provided sufficient evidence that the children were properly educated and socialized, and ruled that a government removing children from their parents to ensure they receive an education did not violate Article 8.

The family is now considering an appeal to the Court’s highest chamber.