Former dissident fights for anti-discrimination law in Czech

Anti-discrimination bill meets demands of current society

Prague, 19. 9. 2005, 10:00 (CTK)

A draft discrimination has a real chance of being passed by the Chamber of Deputies at its September session which opens on Tuesday, the daily Hospodarske noviny writes today. The bill precisely defines what is and what is not discrimination and it enjoys general support in the Chamber of Deputies, except of deputies from the senior opposition Civic Democrats (ODS).

Anti-Discrimination Bills (866, 867)

Purpose: The two bills introduce the EU anti-discrimination rules. Their goal is to prevent discrimination of employees in private companies that is based on their race, age, sex, religion, and sexual orientation. The bills introduce a strict ban on different wages paid for the same work in the same position. The Centre for Equal Treatment will be newly set up as an overseeing authority. The Ombudsman will also gain power to interfere in the employment policy of private companies in order to enforce the equality of wages.

Affected: All companies.

Timing: Approved by the government in December 2004. Passed the 1st reading in the Chamber of Deputies in February 2005. The parliamentary committee interrupted the discussion in May 2005.

Gay partnership law likely

More than a decade after being proposed, equal rights could pass

By Andrew Steven Harris
Staff Writer, The Prague Post
September 14, 2005

For 30-year-old Markéta Krausová and her partner Petra, the question is simple: "I'm a human being, like you," Krausová said. "And if you can get married, then why is it that I can't?"

The Czech government may soon be answering that question. The Cabinet has approved a proposal to authorize registered partnerships ?- just short of marriage ?- for gay and lesbian couples, giving them virtually all the rights enjoyed by husbands and wives except for adoption.

The proposal now must go before Parliament, and if approved, to President Václav Klaus for his signature. Many Czech gays and lesbians would regard it as a quantum leap forward in their efforts to achieve equal rights.

"It's the first step in considering these kinds of rights in our society," said Petra, Krausová's 26-year-old partner. "It's really just the first step to say: We are here, and try to think about our community."

When the government planned to update its civil code on family law in 1995, the hopes of gays and lesbians soared: Political leaders supported a registered-partnership proposal based on the Danish model that excepting adoption would have given homosexual couples every right enjoyed by married people.

But by the end of the year, the registered-partnership bill was dead.

During the next 10 years, it resurfaced several times, coming within two votes of approval in 1997. In April 1999 it failed again. In February of this year, it fell short again, this time by only one vote.

Although Social Democrat Prime Minister Jiří Paroubek endorses the registered partnership plan, many political analysts suggest that the opposition right-wing Civic Democratic Party, which doesn't officially support the bill, will gain seats in the next parliamentary elections, putting the bill's future in jeopardy.

Renewing hopes for some, oddly enough, is the position of the Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia (KSČM). Though not historically a backer of individual rights, the party endorses the legislation.

"KSČM deputies will support the motion," said MP Václav Exner, the KSČM deputy chairman.

The bill would stop short of formally legalizing gay marriage, but registered partners could file joint tax returns, enjoy inheritance rights, get hospital visitation rights and access to medical records. Mutual alimony-style obligations are also included.

Christian Democrats (KDU-ČSL), without directly criticizing different sexual orientations, oppose the bill, arguing that state recognition of gay partnerships threatens traditional family values and child rearing.

"The vast majority of the party will vote against it," said Vilém Holáň, member of Parliament for the KDU-ČSL. "It is a question of principle: We want to protect the role of the family."

Read on...

Slovakia bans positive discrimination

19.10.2005 - 09:53 CET | By Renata Goldirova EUOBSERVER / BRATISLAVA - Positive action providing advantages for people of an ethnic or racial minority group is to be banned in Slovakia, striking a blow against EU policy on the matter.

The country's constitutional court ruled on Monday (18 October) that such favourable provisions clashed with the Slovak constitution, as they "violated full equality before the law".

In practical terms, the ruling means that measures such as preferential access to education or the requirement to hire a designated quota of minority group members, such as Roma, would be illegal.

End of a long dispute

The court's decision put an end to a 15-month legal dispute between the Slovak government and the parliament, with the cabinet keen to dump Article 5 of the European Council Race Discrimination Directive.

The text allows the option of positive action and has been part of Slovak anti-discrimination law since July 2004.

The final verdict is seen as a victory for the governmental Christian Democratic Movement (KDH), which had at first opposed the entire anti-discrimination package.

Led by justice minister Daniel Lipsic, the Christian Democrats said that special assistance may be linked "only to social conditions, never to racial or ethnic origin".

"We need to get rid of building stereotypes based on race and ethnicity".

Roma angered

But Roma representatives called the legal ruling a "tragedy", saying it could slow-down existing anti-discrimination projects.

"Positive action is meant to be a temporary tool to improve Roma's start-up line", said the Slovak Government's envoy for Roma minority issues.

Up to 500,000 Roma are estimated to live in Slovakia, many of them still facing segregation and disadvantaged conditions in housing, education and employment.

End of story?

The sudden red light to positive discrimination in Slovakia is also a blow to Brussels' efforts to promote the idea of social inclusion.

Although not required to, member states are encouraged to take steps to ensure equal opportunities.

"It is definitely important to include minorities into society and prevent certain areas from becoming ghettos", the commission's spokesperson for social matters said.

The Czech Republic and the Netherlands are amongst those EU countries to have introduced measures of positive action, ranging from increasing the chances of Roma to find work to financial incentives offered to companies to hire immigrants.