Hungarian Equal Treatment Authority

Date established:

February 2005

Mode of establishment:

By Act CXXV of 2003 on equal treatment and the promotion of equal opportunities

Status:

Independent Authority of the state under the direction of the Government and supervised by the Minister of Youth, Family, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities. However neither the Government nor the Ministry may instruct the Authority when it performs its tasks under the Equal Treatment Act. (See the Government Decree No 362/2004 (XII.26.) available only in Hungarian at the moment). This independence does not extend to the financial status of the Authority.

See Act CLIII of 2005 on the 2006 Budget of the Republic of Hungary, Chapter XXIV on the Ministry of Youth, Family, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunity, 2^nd part about the budget of the ETA - not yet available in English.

Mandate/objectives:

These are set out in Articles 15 and16 of Act CXXV of 2003, available in English on www.egyenlobanasmod.hu

A violation of the principle of equal treatment within the scope of this Act shall be investigated by the Authority or another public administrative body that has been granted authority under a separate act for assessing violations of the principle of equal treatment, depending on which body is selected by the offended party.

The Authority shall inform the public administrative body granted authority by a separate act, and this public administrative body shall inform the Authority, about the initiation of the procedure.

If the Authority has established that the provisions ensuring the principle of equal treatment laid down in the Act have been violated, they may order that a situation constituting a violation of law be eliminated, prohibit the further continuation of the conduct constituting a violation of law, publish its decisions establishing the violation of law, and impose fines.

Grounds of Discrimination covered:

The grounds are: sex, racial origin, colour, nationality, national or ethnic origin, mother tongue, disability, state of health, religious or ideological conviction, political or other opinion, family status, motherhood (pregnancy) or fatherhood, sexual orientation, sexual identity, age, social origin, financial status, the part-time nature or definite term of the employment relationship or other relationship related to employment, the membership of an organisation representing employees’ interests, other status, attribute or characteristic.

See Article 8 of Act CXXV of 2003

Competences and responsibilities:

The Authority keeps the provisions of the Act under review and makes recommendations to Government for its amendment, regularly informs the public and the Government about the situation concerning the enforcement of equal treatment and co-operates with social organisations, organisations representing civil society and relevant state bodies such as ministries, employment offices, consumer protection agencies and tribunals.

Main activities:

• giving legal advice to complainants
• seeking to achieve settlement of the matter by giving an opinion in a case  which can from the basis of an agreement between the parties. The opinion is binding on the parties and failure to follow it can result in imposition of a sanction by the Authority if one of the parties reports the non-compliance with the agreement to the Authority.
• independent investigation in individual cases
• ex-officio proceedings, i.e. the Authority shall take action on behalf of the complainant/victim in cases where the principle of equal treatment is violated by the Hungarian State, local and minority governments and all bodies thereof, organisations exercising powers as authorities, the armed forces and policing bodies.
• legal standing to intervene in judicial review cases concerning claims of discriminatory behaviour against public authorities. To assist one of the parties, but only if one of the parties is another public administrative body. For example, if the Employment Office or the Consumer Protection Agency establishes a violation of equal treatment and the respondent turns to the court with a request to change the decision, the Authority has the right to help in order to strengthen the argument of the Employment Office or the Agency before the courts.

Publications:

These are produced regularly and appear on the website at www.egyenlobanasmod.hu

Management:

The Authority is led by the President who is appointed by the Prime Minister. The Equal Treatment Act required the establishment of an Advisory Body to assist the Authority with issues of strategic importance. The Advisory Body consists of 6 experts. The Board has co-decision powers with the Authority on the adoption of proposals for Government decisions and draft legislation relating to equal treatment and on reporting in general about the work of the Authority including opinions on the most important cases.

Nomination of senior staff and board:

The President of the Authority is appointed by the Prime Minister for an unlimited period

Number of Staff:

17 persons

Budget:

202 Millions HUF per year (748,000 euros)

Accountability:

Required to report every 6 months to the State Treasury (budgetary report).

Address:

Egyenlõ Bánásmód Hatóság (Equal Treatment Authority)

1024 Budapest

Margit krt. 85

main phone Nr.:00-36-1-336-7843

Phone: +36-1-336-7843

e-mail: ebh@egyenlobanasmod.hu

fax: +36-1-336-7445

President: Dr. Judit Demeter

Tel: +36-1-336-7842

demeter.judit@egyenlobanasmod.hu