Indicator history

Hungary’s comprehensive Equal Treatment Act came into force in 2004.[1] The law provides a list on the 19 grounds of unequal treatment, ending with the fluid concept of “other status, attribute or characteristics” as the 20^th element, which makes the list practically open-ended. (About the interpretation of this feature ‘other status’, the Equal Treatment Authority issued a ‘Position of the ETA Advisory Board on the definition of ’other condition as a ground of discrimnation’[2] recently, in 2010 April.)

According to the Equal Treatment Act, the grounds of unequal treatment might be:[3]

a) sex,

b) racial origin,

c) colour,

d) nationality,

e) national or ethnic origin,

f) mother tongue,

g) disability,

h) state of health,

i) religious or ideological conviction,

j) political or other opinion,

k) family status,

l) motherhood (pregnancy) or fatherhood,

m) sexual orientation,

n) sexual identity,

o) age,

p) social origin,

q) financial status,

r) the part-time nature or definite term of the employment relationship or other relationship related to employment,

s) the membership of an organisation representing employees’ interests,

t) other status.

Nationality occupies the fourth position on the list of grounds for unequal treatment. Nationality in this context is not identical to citizenship, this latter aspect falls within the category of other status. The Advisory Board of the Equal Treatment Authority states that citizenship is considered by international legal regulations as a dimension falling under the protection of equal treatment, consequently the ‘other status’ has to be interpreted so as to include citizenship as well.[4]