13 July 2024
Hate Speech on and off the Field
During the EURO 2024 in Germany, the UEFA has imposed a series of sanctions on fans and two players for inappropriate comments and gestures. Albania's player Mirlind Daku was suspended by UEFA's Control, Ethics and Disciplinary Body (CEDB) for two UEFA representative team competition matches after chanting nationalist slogans. Turkey's Merih Demiral was suspended for two matches for celebrating his second goal against Austria with a "wolf salute". These sanctions can be considered justified under the standards of the European Convention on Human Rights ("ECHR"). However, in order to have an effective preventive effect, they should be accompanied by criminal investigations under national law. Continue reading >>
0 
13 June 2024
Reframing Harassment as Occupational Safety and Health Issue
In 2019, the International Labor Organization adopted the Convention No. 190 on Violence and Harassment at Work. The convention has been dubbed a milestone, since it implements a duty of each member state to address this topic through “an inclusive, integrated and gender-responsive approach”. This duty will apply to Germany from the 14th of June, when the convention enters into force. At the event of ratification, the German government expressed its opinion that “in order to meet the requirements of the Convention, no additions to national legislation are necessary.” We will demonstrate that this does not hold true. Continue reading >>31 January 2023
Battling the hydra in EU anti-discrimination law
Can a company refuse to conclude or renew a contract with a self-employed person because he is gay? And may contractual freedom prevail over the prohibition of discrimination in such a situation? A short answer stemming from the recent ECJ judgment in J.K. v. TP would be a resounding no. Yet, a further analysis is in order because the judgment also brings a significant shift in the ECJ’s anti-discrimination case law. Continue reading >>
0
22 July 2022
Citizenship Imposition is the New Non-Discrimination Standard
Never before has the failure to naturalize been used by the Court against discriminated permanent residents, just as it would be unthinkable to greenlight the humiliation of Muslims by an Islamophobic government for failure to convert. The meaning of ‘discrimination’ in ECHR law has become less clear as a result of Savickis. Continue reading >>
0
23 June 2022
Tackling Discrimination in Targeted Advertising
On 21 June Meta and the US Department for Housing and Urban Development released a legal settlement that will restrict Meta’s ability to offer those clients some of its core ad-targeting products. It resolves (for now) a long-running case over discriminatory targeting of housing adverts. Meta is now prohibited from using certain targeting tools in this context, and has promised new tools to ensure more representative targeting. This US lawsuit should be a wake-up call for European regulators, reminding them that taking systemic discrimination seriously requires proactive regulatory reform and enforcement. The relevant provisions of the Digital Services Act (DSA) are largely symbolic. Continue reading >>
0
20 July 2021
Pride or Prejudice?
The joined cases IX v Wabe and MH Müller Handels GmbH offered the CJEU a second chance to heed the arguments raised against Achbita and reconsider its decision. Hopes that the Court would be willing to revise Achbita diminished significantly after AG Rantos’s disappointing Opinion in the case. Last week's decision in IX v Wabe to largely uphold Achbita was then also unsurprising, but nevertheless disappointing. Continue reading >>15 June 2021
From Russia with Love
On 15 June, the Hungarian Parliament is expected to vote on a legislative package on stricter actions against paedophile offenders. Attached to this noble cause, the ruling party seeks to prohibit the “representation” and “promotion” of LGBTI identities to minors. The proposal would outlaw almost any mention of sexual and gender minorities in schools. Continue reading >>
0
13 April 2021
The United Kingdom on Race
The United Kingdom’s Commission on Ethnic and Racial Disparities, has recently published a report, which has been widely discredited since its launch by charities, education unions, academics and politicians. Using the UK’s progressive track record of legal provisions on racial discrimination, the report moves to obscure racism’s systemic aspects. There is a profound disconnect between the theory of the UK’s legal protections against racism and the lived reality of race in Britain, which reveals race as an important and persistent determinant of social experience. Continue reading >>
0
01 March 2021