Topic: Discrimination and Racial Justice
Born in the Americas: The Promise and Practice of Nationality Laws in Brazil, Chile, and Colombia
This examination of citizenship regimes in Brazil, Chile and Colombia finds weaknesses that create the risk of statelessness.
Strategic Litigation Impacts: Equal Access to Quality Education
This comparative study, based on research in Brazil, India, and South Africa, assesses how the power of the litigation is being harnessed in the pursuit of adequate basic education for all.
EU Top Court Fails to Guarantee Muslim Women’s Right to Wear a Headscarf at Work
The Court of Justice of the European Union has ruled that it is not direct discrimination on grounds of religion for an employer to bar workers from wearing religious clothing.
Headscarves and Discrimination before the Court of Justice of the European Union
The EU's top court will rule on whether an employer can refuse to allow a Muslim woman to wear a headscarf at her place of work.
Baton Rape Case Fuels Anger over Racist Policing in France
The sexual assault with a police baton of Theo L., a 22-year-old black Frenchman, has provoked both protests and calls for fundamental reforms in French policing.
Kosa v. Hungary
A Hungarian domestic court rejected a complaint over discriminatory treatment of Roma students that was brought by a local NGO. One of the students, Amanda Kośa, is now seeking to bring the case to the Strasbourg Court.
Case Watch: How a Decision on Danish Naturalization Law Leaves Issues Unresolved
A ruling from the European Court of Human Rights glosses over the human story of a torture survivor's long struggle with stupefying bureaucracy.
European Union Must Address Widespread Ethnic Profiling by Police
Heightened concerns over both migration and the threat of terrorism are fueling discriminatory policing practices in Europe.
Dutch Nationality Laws Leave Six-Year Old in Legal Limbo
More than 13,000 children in the Netherlands are classed as being of "unknown" nationality. One of them is taking his case to the UN Human Rights Committee.
A Victory in France in the Struggle against Racial Bias in Policing
A ruling from France’s top civil court affirmed that the police are subject to antidiscrimination laws, and set the stage for a change in policing practices.
French Court Victory Calls Police to Account over Racially-Biased Stops
France’s top civil court ruled today that police stops which disproportionately target young people of African and Arab origin are illegal, in a judgment that clears the way for fundamental changes in French police practices.
European Court Judgment Falls Short on Protecting Roma Rights
The European Court of Human Rights ordered Russia to compensate six Roma families for their eviction in 2006, but failed to acknowledge that the action was racially motivated.
Case Watch: Justice Sotomayor Highlights Impact of Biased Policing
A Supreme Court justice’s arguments make for powerful reading, given the troubled state of relations between the police and African American communities across the country.
Employer’s Bar on Religious Clothing and European Union Discrimination Law
The Open Society Justice Initiative calls on the Court of Justice of the European Union to rule that equality law is violated when an employer on the grounds of “neutrality”—bans its staff from wearing any religious clothing.
Case Watch: Discrimination Dressed up as Neutrality in European Headscarf Bans
Two cases before the Court of Justice of the European Union address complaints from Muslim women dismissed by a private sector employer because of wearing a religious headscarves at work.
Strategic Litigation Impacts: Roma School Desegregation
This study examines the role of strategic litigation in efforts to end discrimination against Roma school children in Greece, Hungary, and the Czech Republic.
Fair and Effective Police Stops
This report provides a roadmap for combating ethnic profiling in police work, drawing on reform efforts by five police departments in Spain.
Deportation and Citizenship in the Dominican Republic: Unanswered Questions
Despite assurances from the government over threatened deportations, the position of tens of thousands of Dominicans of Haitian Descent remains uncertain.
Case Watch: European Court Urges Italy to Legally Recognize Same-Sex Relationships
The European Court of Human Rights has urged Italy to introduce a form of civil union or registered partnership to enable the legal recognition of same-sex relationships.
EU Court Finds Bulgarian Electricity Company Discriminated against Roma
The Court of Justice of the European Union has ruled that a Bulgarian electricity company treated predominantly Roma districts in an “offensive and stigmatizing” way, breaching European antidiscrimination laws.