Slovenia - 2012
Are there any problems concerning the implementation of national legislation prohibiting discrimination?
- Code:
- RED18
- Key Area:
- Anti-discrimination Legislation & Implementation
- Strand(s):
- Discrimination, Equality
| Short Answer |
Yes. The main problem is the lack of powers of the equality body (the Advocate of the Principle of Equality) to implement the provisions of the Act Implementing the Principle of Equal Treatment and the lack of clear definition of the role of the inspectorates. |
| Qualitative Info |
The main problem is the lack of powers of the equality body (the Advocate of the Principle of Equality) to implement the provisions of the Act Implementing the Principle of Equal Treatment and the lack of clear definition of the role of the inspectorates.
The situation of equality body: In accordance with Article 11.a of the Act Implementing the Principle of Equal Treatment, the Advocate is a special civil servant position, subject to rules in the area of civil servants in state bodies and the system of salaries in public sector, except for the matter regulated differently with this act. The Advocate is nominated by the Government for the period of five years, upon the proposal of the Director of the Government Office for Equal Opportunities and on the basis of public competition. This creates an issue of the lack of independence and a question whether the advocate being in such position is capable of independent assessment of alleged discrimination for which a government body is responsible. The Advocate does not have its own budget, but is financed from the budget of the Office for Equal Opportunities. The Advocate has no investigative powers and it therefore cannot establish the facts of the case when statements of the two parties to the procedure differ to the extent when it is not possible to establish what really happened. In such case discrimination cannot be established or denied. The Advocate does not have the power to impose sanctions. It can only issue recommendations to the perpetrator, and if the latter does not respect them, the Advocate can forward the case to the competent inspectorate which then has to power to impose sanctions. The problem with this system is that inspectorates (e.g. health inspectorate, market inspectorate, school inspectorate...) do not consider themselves competent for issue of discrimination stated in the Act Implementing the Principle of Equal Treatment, since their competence is not explicitly defined in this act, if the offence of discrimination is not at the same time defined in the legislation (e.g. health, market, education legislation) they are competent for supervizing.
Sources: Zakon o uresničevanju načela enakega obravnavanja – Uradno prečiščeno besedilo [Act Implementing the Principle of Equal Treatment – Official Consolidated Version], Official Journal of the Republic of Slovenia, No. 93/2007.
Report on measures to combat discrimination (Directives 2000/43/EC and 2000/78/EC), Country report 2010 on Slovenia, http://www.non-discrimination.net/content/media/2010-SI-Country%20Report%20LN_FINAL.pdf
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| Groups affected/interested | Migrants, Refugees, Roma & Travelers, Muslims, Ethnic minorities, Religious minorities, Linguistic minorities, Majority, Asylum seekers, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender, Persons with disability |
| Type (R/D) | Extremism - organised Racist Violence, Anti-migrant/xenophobia, Anti-semitism, Islamophobia, Afrophobia, Arabophobia, Anti-roma/zinghanophobia, Religious intolerance, Inter-ethnic, Intra-ethnic, Nationalism, Homophobia, On grounds of disability, On grounds of other belief |
| Key socio-economic / Institutional Areas | Policing - law enforcement, Employment - labour market, Housing, Health and social protection, Education, Culture, Media, Internet, Sport, Political discourse -parties - orgs, Political participation, Anti-discrimination, Anti-racism, Integration - social cohesion, Daily life, Religion |
| External Url | http://www.non-discrimination.net/content/media/2010-SI-Country%20Report%20LN_FINAL.pdf |
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