MINELRES: Roma Rights 1 and 2/2003: Anti-Discrimination Law

[MINELRES moderator]

Original sender: European Roma Rights Center <errc@errc.org>


Roma Rights 1 and 2/2003: Anti-Discrimination Law

Roma Rights 1 and 2/2003 addresses issues pertaining to
anti-discrimination law in Europe. The ban on discrimination is anchored
in both international Covenants, as well as in a number of other
international legal instruments. European legal norms banning
discrimination are currently in a period of dramatic expansion, due to
consensus that the dignity of an individual in a democratic society
depends to a great extent on her having access to legal tools with which
she may seek and secure redress in instances in which her dignity has
been harmed through arbitrary treatment. The very serious harm of racial
discrimination has been a particular focus of recent efforts by European
lawmakers, at least in part because of the dramatic return of virulent
racism to Europe following the end of Communism. A question being posed
with increasing frequency and urgency is whether governments can
establish frameworks through which Romani victims of racial
discrimination can receive due remedy. By late 2000, the ERRC had made
adoption and implementation of comprehensive anti-discrimination law in
conformity with international standards among the central planks of its
advocacy efforts.

Roma Rights 1 and 2/2003 brings together essays by a number of observers
and experts in Eastern and Western Europe, detailing the current state
of efforts to bring about new or amended anti-discrimination laws in a
number of countries. Additionally, ERRC Board Member Theo Van Boven
describes the work of the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of
Racial Discrimination, the treaty body charged with oversight of
implementation of the International Convention on the Elimination of All
Forms of Racial Discrimination. ERRC Legal Director Gloria Jean Garland
provides an overview of ERRC anti-discrimination litigation efforts to
date, as advocates work with existing laws to secure justice for victims
of racial discrimination.

Copies of Roma Rights 1 and 2/2003 are available by following the
instructions below. The contents of Roma Rights 1 and 2/2003, including
Internet links directly to articles, follow:

EDITORIAL
Roma Rights and Anti-Discrimination Law
Claude Cahn
http://errc.org/rr_nr1-2_2003/editori.shtml

NOTEBOOK
The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination: Trends and
Developments
Theo van Boven
http://errc.org/rr_nr1-2_2003/noteb1.shtml

The Bulgarian Draft Anti-Discrimination Law: An Opportunity to Make Good
on the Constitutional Promise of Equality in a Post-Communist Society
Margarita Ilieva
http://errc.org/rr_nr1-2_2003/noteb2.shtml

A Unified Approach to Equality Law
Bob Hepple QC
http://errc.org/rr_nr1-2_2003/noteb3.shtml

Will the Groom Adopt the Bride's Unwanted Child? The Race Equality
Directive, Hungary and its Roma
Lilla Farkas
http://errc.org/rr_nr1-2_2003/noteb4.shtml

The Dutch Equal Treatment Act in Theory and Practice
Janny R. Dierx and Peter R. Rodrigues
http://errc.org/rr_nr1-2_2003/noteb5.shtml

Not Yet Viable: Anti-Discrimination Action in Romania
Romanita Iordache and Andreea Tabacu
http://errc.org/rr_nr1-2_2003/noteb6.shtml

Enforcement of Rights under the Equality Legislation in Northern Ireland
Geraldine Scullion
http://errc.org/rr_nr1-2_2003/noteb7.shtml

Fighting Discrimination Through the Courts
Gloria Jean Garland
http://errc.org/rr_nr1-2_2003/noteb8.shtml

NEWS ROUNDUP: SNAPSHOTS FROM AROUND EUROPE
Albania * Bosnia and Herzegovina * Bulgaria * Croatia * Czech Republic *
Denmark * Finland * France * Greece * Hungary * Italy * Kosovo * Latvia
* Lithuania * Macedonia * Moldova * Romania * Serbia and Montenegro *
Slovakia * Ukraine * United Kingdom
http://errc.org/rr_nr1-2_2003/snapshots.shtml

FIELD REPORT
Romanian Roma: Two Years After the Adoption of the Government Strategy,
No Visible Change
Tara Bedard
http://errc.org/rr_nr1-2_2003/field_report.shtml

ADVOCACY
ERRC Action as Poland and Slovakia Are Reviewed by the United Nations
Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
Mona Nicoara
http://errc.org/rr_nr1-2_2003/advocacy.shtml

LEGAL DEFENCE
UN Committee Against Torture Finds Montenegrin Authorities in Flagrant
Breach of Human Rights Standards
Branimir Plese
http://errc.org/rr_nr1-2_2003/legalde1.shtml

Training Workshop for Judges in the Implementation and Enforcement of
the EU Race Equality Directive
February 28-March 1, 2003, Budapest, Hungary
http://errc.org/rr_nr1-2_2003/legalde2.shtml

Litigation
http://errc.org/rr_nr1-2_2003/legalde3.shtml

HUMAN RIGHTS EDUCATION
ERRC Scholarship Recipients 2002/2003
http://errc.org/rr_nr1-2_2003/human_rights_education.shtml

ROMANI LANGUAGE PUBLICATION
Komparativo Analiza Pala Nacionalo Thaj Europako Zakono Romani-language
translation of "A Comparative Analysis of National and European Law"
prepared for the European Roma Rights Center, Interights and Migration
Policy Group by Per Johansson
http://errc.org/rr_nr1-2_2003/romani.shtml

TESTIMONY
Being a "Gypsy": The Worst Social Stigma in Romania
Valeriu Nicolae and Hannah Slavik
http://errc.org/rr_nr1-2_2003/testimony1.shtml

Roma in Russia
Nadezhda Demeter
http://errc.org/rr_nr1-2_2003/testimony2.shtml

MEET THE ERRC
Turning the Tide
Luke Clements
http://errc.org/rr_nr1-2_2003/meet.shtml

chronicle
http://errc.org/rr_nr1-2_2003/chronicle.shtml

Roma Rights is published quarterly in Budapest, Hungary, by the European
Roma Rights Center.

Editor-in-chief: Dimitrina Petrova
Executive editor: Claude Cahn
Associate editor: Savelina Danova Russinova
News co-ordinator: Tara Bedard
Design and layout: Istvan Fenyvesi

� May 2003 European Roma Rights Center ISSN 1417-1503. The opinions
expressed in authored pieces are not necessarily those of the European
Roma Rights Center. The contents of Roma Rights are free from all
copyright restrictions on condition that the source is mentioned and
reproduction is not for commercial purposes. The ERRC requests that
three copies of the reproduced text be sent to the editor.

Paper copies of Roma Rights can be obtained by contacting the offices of
the ERRC: office@errc.org

The ERRC requests a donation of 10 USD or 10 euro per copy, via bank
transfer to:

European Roma Rights Center
Account holder: European Roma Rights Center
Bank�s name: Budapest Bank Rt.
Account number: 99P00402686
(IBAN: HU21-10103173-40268600-00000998)
Bank�s address: B?thori utca 1, H-1054 Budapest, Hungary


_____________________________________________

The European Roma Rights Center is an international public interest law
organisation which monitors the rights of Roma and provides legal
defence in cases of human rights abuse. For more information about the
European Roma Rights Center, visit the ERRC on the web at
http://www.errc.org.

European Roma Rights Center
1386 Budapest 62
P.O. Box 906/93
Hungary


Phone: +36 1 4132200
Fax:   +36 1 4132201

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Account holder: European Roma Rights Center
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Account number: 99P00402686
(IBAN:          HU21-10103173-40268600-00000998)
Bank�s address: B�thori utca 1, H-1054 Budapest, Hungary


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