BERLIN (AP) — The European Court of Human Rights has rejected the appeal of a German couple who have been fighting for years to home school their kids, saying the government was within its rights to temporarily remove their children.

Home schooling is illegal in Germany and the court noted it had already upheld that law in previous decisions.

But Dirk and Petra Wunderlich had argued their rights to privacy of home and family life were violated by Hesse state authorities when their four children were taken from them in 2013. They were returned three weeks later after the couple agreed to send them to school.

The court found in a unanimous decision Thursday that authorities "struck a proportionate balance between the best interests of the children and those of the (parents)."