Topic: Discrimination and Equality
Case Digests: Legal Update on Discrimination
Read summaries of key decisions relating to discrimination, including ethnic profiling, from international and regional courts and tribunals from March 2012 to May 2013.
France: Government Promises UN to End Ethnic Profiling
France should act on its promise to prohibit and prevent ethnic profiling and provide effective remedies to victims, the Open Society Justice Initiative and Human Rights Watch said today.
Case Watch: A New Perspective on France’s Ban on Religious Headcoverings in Schools
The UN Human Rights Commission has found that a 2004 French ban on religious headcoverings at public schools breached a Sikh student’s right to religious freedom.
Ethnic Profiling: Letter from Spain’s Defensora del Pueblo
Recommendations from Spain’s Defensora del Pueblo to the General Directorate of Police at the Ministry of the Interior to address ethnic profiling.
Spain’s Civil Rights Monitor Proposes Measures to Combat Police Ethnic Profiling
The Open Society Justice Initiative has welcomed a new initiative in Spain that aims to eliminate the ethnic and racial profiling of minorities in supposedly random identity checks.
Case Watch: Stopping Evictions of Roma in Bulgaria
A recent case at the UN illustrates the challenges that Roma communities face in asserting their right to protect the homes they have created on the margins of both society and the legal system.
Case Watch: European Court of Justice Faults Response to Football Tycoon’s Anti-Gay Remarks
Asociaţia ACCEPT has successfully challenged Romania's handling of anti-gay remarks by the millionaire backer of Steaua Bucharest football club.
Salkanovic v. Ministry of Interior (Italy)
The Justice Initiative with Italian NGOs filed a petition on behalf of Salkanovic against the government, seeking a declaration that the Roma census violated Italian and EU antidiscrimination and data protection law.
S.A.S. v France
In October 2010, France enacted a law banning the wearing of any clothing which fully covers the face in any public space. In effect the law is intended to regulate the burqa and niqab.
Case Watch: Retention of Fingerprints Violates Right to Respect for Private Life
The European Court has ruled that French authorities violated the right to respect for private life when they retained fingerprints in a government database after a suspect was acquitted.
Viewed with Suspicion: The Human Cost of Stop and Search in England and Wales
How does it feel to bear the brunt of police profiling? The Open Society Justice Initiative conducted interviews with nine people whose lives have been directly affected by stop and search.
Viewed with Suspicion: Twenty Years after Stephen Lawrence
The Lawrence legacy of police reform isn’t complete. It requires action that recognises the human costs of stop and search—action that finally accounts for those on the receiving end.
Case Watch: Spanish Supreme Court Repeals City Burqa Ban
The Spanish Supreme Court has struck down the prohibition against wearing burqa in public spaces in the Catalonian city of Lleida. The judgment could provide a precedent to prevent broader bans.
Immigration Crackdown in Stockholm Provokes Pushback
Police in Stockholm have been accused of ethnic profiling as they step up identity checks; activists have responded by using social media to track police movements.
Reducing Ethnic Profiling in the European Union: A Handbook of Good Practices
The nearly 100 case studies gathered in this handbook show that efforts to address ethnic profiling can reduce discrimination, and enhance the overall quality and efficiency of law enforcement.
Still Waiting for an End to Police Discrimination in Spain
Twenty years ago, Rosalind Williams was stopped by police in Spain because she did not look Spanish enough. Unfortunately, ethnic profiling still remains a problem in Spain, as elsewhere in western Europe.
Submission to the UN on Ethnic Profiling in Spain
This submission details the extent and impact of ethnic profiling on minorities in Spain, and how these practices violate international human rights standards.
Report to U.N. Details Pervasive Ethnic Profiling in Spain
Spanish police are guilty of focusing identity checks and stops on people who “do not look Spanish,” according to a statement by an international human rights law group to the U.N’s top expert on racism and discrimination.
Stateless in Italy: Time to Fix a Broken System
Two ongoing cases illustrate all that is wrong with Italy's status determination procedures for identifying stateless persons and recognizing their status.
Case Watch: Uncivil Unions in Greece
A case hearing at the European Court of Human Rights sees the Greek government struggling to explain why its civil union partnerships are not available to gay couples.
