Today is the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. It also marks the launch of a new book entitled ‘European Non-Discrimination Law’, which integrates the converging yet very complex interlocking system of non-discrimination law of the European Union and of the European Convention on Human Rights. In a joint project the EU’s Fundamental Rights Agency and the European Court of Human Rights have endeavored to make the legal framework on the issue more accessible (and indeed it is written in a very reader-friendly way, enlightening the legal rules also for non-experts). This is the abstract of the book, which is being launched in Strasbourg today:
The handbook is the first publication to present and explain the body of non-discrimination law stemming from the European Convention on Human Rights and European Union law as a single, converging legal system.
The substance of non-discrimination law is set out according to the definitions of direct and indirect discrimination as elaborated through the European Convention on Human Rights (including Protocol 12) and the European Union’s Gender Equality Directives, Racial Equality Directive and Employment Equality Directive. The meaning of provisions is presented through analysis of cases delivered by the European Court of Human Rights and the case-law of the Court of Justice of the European Union. Comprehensive analysis of the law is ensured by supplementing this body of case-law with decisions and interpretive documents from national courts and equality bodies, as well as other international bodies such as the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, the Council of Europe, European Commission against Racism and Intolerance and the European Committee of Social Rights.
The handbook is avalaible on the website of the Fundamental Rights Agency in English, French and German and other EU languages are in principle to follow later on.
