Human rights are presumed to be universal given the universal declaration on human rights by the United Nations in 1948. Half a century has passed, and private human rights such as group rights are discriminated against worldwide. This thesis studies the presumed tension between universal human rights and private human rights, and how the specific rights are discriminated against. External monitoring is part of duties assigned to civil society organisations, and organisations monitor this issue and uses various methods to create circumstances in which private rights are respected. This thesis studies the European context through the European Court of Justice and the European Convention on Human Rights, and how civil society organisations in Europe use strategic litigation for Roma human rights. The purpose of this thesis is to establish how the European Court of Justice balances the tension between universal human rights and private human rights when civil society invokes discrimination against human rights. A sub-purpose is to identify whether there is a long-term consequence of strategic litigation for Roma human rights in Europe. The thesis has dealt with two ideas of human rights: universalism and discrimination. The chosen method for the study has been descriptive analysis of ideas to show the existence of ideas in texts, and thus be able to ascertain a shift in expression. The material is obtained by the civil society organisation European Roma Rights Centre, which are rulings from the European Court of Justice. The result of the study is that the European Court of Justice has previously considered that human rights should be universal and held that discrimination is difficult to prove. In recent cases however, the European Court of Justice has ruled that discrimination is constitutional for the Roma. Lastly, it is stated that strategic litigation can be viewed as effective in reducing the tension between universal human rights and private human rights in Europe.