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PRESS
RELEASE
EUROPEAN
ROMA RIGHTS CENTER
27/11/2000
PROJECT
TO IMPLEMENT EUROPEAN ANTI-DISCRIMINATION LAW
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EUROPEAN
ROMA RIGHTS CENTER
P.O.Box
906/93 - 1386 Budapest 62 - Hungary -
Phone: + (36 1) 42 82 351 Fax: + (36-1) 42 82 356
27/11/2000
PROJECT
TO IMPLEMENT EUROPEAN ANTI-DISCRIMINATION LAW
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Project to Implement European Anti-Discrimination Law
A Joint Initiative of the European Roma Rights Center, Interights and
the
Migration Policy Group
In June 2000, the Council of the European Union adopted Directive
2000/43/EC, "implementing the principle of equal treatment
between persons
irrespective of racial or ethnic origin" (the "Race
Directive" or
"Directive"). The product of a ten-year campaign by Starting
Line Group, a
broad network of non-governmental organisations coordinated by the
Migration Policy Group, the Race Directive presents Europe with an
historic
opportunity to make a lasting contribution to the struggle for racial
equality.
Within three years, all EU member states must conform their
legislation to
implement the Directive's principles. Moreover, the Directive forms
part of
the "acquis communautaire," the body of law which all states
wishing to
join the Union must adopt. Hence, each of the EU candidate countries
will
have to enact legislation and educate their judges, prosecutors and
other
public officials about the new legal standards.
The role of the NGO community remains crucial also after the adoption
of
the Directive. Civil society actors must now ensure its effective
implementation, both in the EU and the candidate countries. Their role
is
important in highlighting the significance of the Directive, and the
nature
of the legal and institutional changes required; as well as in
capacitating
lawyers, other advocates and government officials to make use of this
new
legal tool in their anti-discrimination work.
Moreover, independent legal and advocacy expertise from the NGO sector
will
be needed to ensure that ambiguous and potentially broad-ranging
provisions
are applied in a manner most favourable and accessible to
discrimination's
victims. Questions are sure to arise concerning, inter alia, the
effectiveness of the sanctions required, the independence and
functions of
the government enforcement bodies to be established, and the scope of
"disadvantage" needed to constitute a prima facie case of
discrimination.
Absent sustained NGO input, the Directive's potential to transform
anti-discrimination law in Europe may not be fully realised.
In another significant development in the field of
anti-discrimination, the
Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe on 4 November 2000
opened
for signature Protocol No. 12 to the European Convention on Human
Rights
("Protocol No. 12" or "the Protocol"). It broadens
the scope of the
Convention's Article 14 on non-discrimination, which presently
prohibits
discrimination only in the enjoyment of the rights already enshrined
in the
Convention. Unlike the Race Directive, however, this Protocol will
enter
into force only after ten states have ratified it. A major task ahead
lies
in convincing Council of Europe member states to make this important
instrument a reality.
Given that non-discrimination has become a top priority in the work of
the
European Union and the Council of Europe, and in view of the European
preparations for the upcoming United Nations World Conference against
Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance (to
be
held in South Africa in August-September 2001), the Project to
Implement
European Anti-Discrimination Law seeks to ensure the effective
implementation of the new regional anti-discrimination norms at
national
level.
The Project to Implement European Anti-Discrimination Law is a
three-year
initiative which starts in January 2001. It covers the 15 EU member
states
and 11 candidate countries (Turkey and 10 in Central and Eastern
Europe).
In close cooperation with local NGOs and individuals, the Project will
focus on three main areas of activities, each designed to promote the
Directive's effective application and the Protocol's timely entry into
force:
· Training/capacitation of judges, lawyers, NGO anti-discrimination
advocates, government officials, members of parliament and
representatives
of specialised bodies to ensure that key actors throughout the
continent
are sufficiently informed about the legal obligations flowing from the
Directive and the Protocol and know how to creatively make use of it;
· Legislative advocacy before individual governments and relevant EU
institutions to ensure that the requirements of the Directive - in a
nut-shell, the adoption of comprehensive anti-discrimination
legislation
and the establishment of effective enforcement bodies - are swiftly
and
adequately complied with, and that Protocol No. 12 to the ECHR is
speedily
ratified by at least the minimum ten states required for its entry
into force;
· Test litigation before selected constitutional and Supreme Courts,
the
European Court of Human Rights and the European Court of Justice, to
ensure
the adoption in their case-law of the various elements of the
Directive
and the Protocol.
All three Project components are predicated on high-quality research
to
identify the principal legal and institutional needs in each country.
To
this end, a detailed analysis of existing legal provisions and
relevant
jurisprudence pertaining to racial and other forms of discrimination
in the
26 countries covered by the Project will be undertaken as a matter of
priority in the early stages of the Project.
The Project to Implement European Anti-Discrimination Law is a joint
initiative of three partner organisations - the European Roma Rights
Center, Migration Policy Group and Interights. Contact persons for the
Project within each organisation are as follows:
· Isabelle Chopin, Programme Director, Migration Policy Group, tel.:
(32-2)
230 85 12; fax: (32-2) 280 09 25; e-mail: ichopin@migpolgroup.com;
homepage: http://www.migpolgroup.com
· Borislav Petranov, Legal Officer for Central and Eastern Europe,
Interights, tel.: (44-20) 7278 3230; fax: (44-20) 7278 4334; e-mail:
bpetranov@interights.org;
homepage: http://www.interights.org
· Veronika Leila Szente, Advocacy Director, European Roma Rights
Center,
tel.: (36-1) 413 2234 or 413 2200; fax: (36-1) 413 2201; e-mail:
vszente@errc.org; homepage: http://www.errc.org
The Project received substantial financial support from the Open
Society
Institute, enabling activities to start in January 2001. Additional
funds
are being sought from other donors, including national Open Society
Foundations in the Central and Eastern European countries covered by
the
Project.
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