STRUCTURAL BARRIERS TO THE IMPLEMENTATION OF EQUALITY

ANALYSIS OF THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE LAW ON PREVENTION AND PROTECTION AGAINST DISCRIMINATION 2023-2026

This analysis follows on from the Report on the Implementation of the Law on prevention and protection against discrimination 2019-2022 prepared by the Network for Protection against discrimination.

in the reporting period 2023-2026 there have been no positive changes in the legal framework and policies in the area of equality and non-discrimination. Moreover, amendments were adopted to the Law on primary education that rolled back the provisions on prevention and protection from discrimination, in order to terminate the policies for the promotion of gender equality and protection from violence of LGBTI youth, which were in their early stages with the law of 2019. The analysis will address the amendments to the Law on education, as they were supposed to implement the judgment of the European Court of Human Rights on the desegregation of education in relation to Roma students, while the process of implementing the judgment was used to promote the demands of anti-gender movements and the return of retrograde policies in relation to protection from violence.

A key area for which civil society organizations continuously react is the procedures for selecting members of the Commission for Prevention and Protection from Discrimination, which mainly result in the selection of members who do not meet the legal criteria, appointed through party influence. Hence, this analysis will largely address the selection and appointment of members of the Commission for Prevention and Protection from Discrimination.

This analysis is done within the framework of the project “Equality Now – Empowering marginalized communities for social inclusion and non-discrimination” supported by the Government of Switzerland through Civica Mobilitas implemented by the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights, HOPS – Healthy Life Options and the Coalition Margins, whose objective is to contribute to improving access to justice and strengthening anti-discrimination protection mechanisms for the most vulnerable groups in society.