MINELRES: ERT: Czech Parliament should override Presidents veto of anti-discrimination bill
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Sat May 31 15:04:06 2008
Original sender: Equal Rights Trust <[email protected]>
ERT urges Czech Chamber of Deputies to vote for anti-discrimination
bill
London, 30 May 2008
Today The Equal Rights Trust wrote to Miloslav Vlcek, Chairperson of the
Chamber of Deputies of the Czech Parliament calling on him and other
deputies of the Czech Parliament to adopt the Law on Equal Treatment and
Legal Measures of Protection from Discrimination and Amendments to Some
Laws (the anti-discrimination bill), which is scheduled to be put to the
vote during the 3 June 2008 session of the Chamber.
On 16 May 2008 President Vaclav Klaus vetoed the anti-discrimination
bill which the Czech Parliament had adopted on 24 April 2008. In an open
letter to Miloslav Vlcek, President Klaus stated that he considered this
law to be �useless, counter-productive and of low quality and its
consequences very problematic�. President Klaus also stated that the
current legal protection against discrimination in the Czech Republic is
adequate.
The President�s position is in stark contrast with the results of
studies carried out by leading Czech and international
non-discrimination experts. The existing Czech legal system lacks
definitions of discrimination and fails to provide even minimal
protection against discrimination in certain areas of activity,
including education, social security, and health. There is neither a
consistent system of sanctions, nor an institutional framework to
protect against discrimination in the Czech Republic.
The Czech Republic has failed to transpose the European Union�s equal
treatment directives within the required deadlines. It lags behind other
new member states such as Bulgaria, Hungary and Romania, which have
adopted comprehensive anti-discrimination legislation.
A simple majority of the 200 members of the Chamber of Deputies is
required to override the presidential veto.
To see ERT�s letter, click here:
http://www.equalrightstrust.org/ertdocumentbank/Microsoft%20Word%20-%20letter%
20to%20Speaker%20of%20the%20Czech%20Chamber%20of%20Deputies.pdf
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