Equinet legal training 'Tools of evidence in discrimination cases', 11 -12 October 2010

in association with

Equinet legal training

'Tools of evidence in discrimination cases'

On 11-12 October 2010, Equinet hosted a training event to legal staff within member specialised equality bodies dealing with individual cases and assistance to victims. The Slovak National Centre for Human Rights kindly provided assistance with the organisation and design of the training content.
The training event observed the diversity of Equinet members and employed a comparative approach to the implementation of anti-discrimination law.

The main goals of the training were:

• to deepen participants’ knowledge necessary to efficiently deal with case law
• to further develop their skills in interpreting anti-discrimination legislation,
• to help identify and collect facts from which it may be presumed that there has been direct or indirect discrimination and therefore result in the shifting of the burden of proof according to the EU Directives
• to raise and discuss difficulties of collecting and evaluating evidence for discrimination cases
• to identify and analyse new tools of evidence and their characteristics.

Presentations of speakers from equality bodies, the academia, representatives of NGOs and the social partners focused on aspects such as:

• the use of situation testing as evidence in court,
• the use of statistics as evidence of discrimination.  
• the preparation of evidence in relation to particular incidents of discrimination and
•  the role of different stakeholders in collecting evidence.

The training was also designed to create the opportunity for participants to share their experiences and knowledge in relation to building and developing effective strategies when taking discrimination cases. Participants shared and discussed their ideas on concrete cases in two interactive workshop sessions and were asked to contribute their experiences at plenary sessions.

The training programme is available here. Two legal cases fed the group discussions which focused on equal pay and on housing issues.

Downlodable documents

Programme

Supporting reading for the workshop
- case on equal pay
- case on housing issues

Day One Presentations

Collecting evidence - practical shortcomings of the traditional tools of evidence in discrimination cases.
PhD Bjorn Dilou Jacobsen (Danish Institute for Human Rights, Denmark)

Collecting and evaluating evidence: the perspective of an equality body (French version)
Marie Becker (High Commission Against Discrimination and for Equality - HALDE, France)

The role of NGOs and the civil sector in collecting evidence. How equality bodies can make use of it.
Presented by Mandana Zarrephavar on behalf of Dieter Schindlauer (ZARA - Zivilcourage und Anti-Rassismus - Arbeit, Austria)

The use of situation testing as evidence in legal proceedings.
Marton Udvari (Legal Defence Bureau for National and Ethnic Minorities NEKI, Hungary)

Day Two Presentations

Collecting evidence and litigating equal pay cases strategically.
Bronwyn McKenna (UNISON - Public Service Union, UK)

Pay survey and analysis to identify and adjust differences in pay between women and men in the workplace. Applicability of the method for other other grounds.
Ulrika Johansson (Equality Ombudsman, Sweden)

Case study - Office of the Ombudsman for Minorities (Finland).
Robin Harms (Office of the Ombudsman for Minorities, Finland)

Case study - Office of the Greek Ombudsman (Greece).
Maria Voutsinou (Office of the Greek Ombudsman, Greece)

Case study - the Dutch Equal Treatment Commission (the Netherlands)
Domenica Ghidei (Dutch Equal Treatment Commission, the Netherlands)

Case study - Slovak National Centre for Human Rights (Slovakia)
Miroslava Matejcikova (Slovak National Centre for Human Rights, Slovakia)

Other Documents

The Slovak National Centre for Human Rights overview
Information about the host of the training.

Photo gallery