Project on the Enforcement of Non-Discrimination Law (PENDL): design of a legal framework for evidence and remedies. (R-10661)

When someone is discriminated against by an authority or another citizen (eg as an employee on the basis of age or as a tenant on the basis of ethnic origin), international, European, national and regional legislation offer protection. Recent evaluation reports show, however, that a citizen who wants to call on this protection faces considerable difficulties. First, it is not clear how one should prove that discrimination has taken place. Secondly, sanctions are not always deterrent. The other way round, it is unclear which defense is available to the alleged discriminator. In other words: the 'pendulum', which should be in the middle, sways too often. This project wants to bring change and wishes to offer tools for a legal framework that does guarantee a balanced enforcement of nondiscrimination law. To begin with, problems and solutions are investigated in two sectors: employment (eg discrimination when applying for a job) and the supply of goods and services (eg discrimination when renting an apartment). In parallel the project adds to the particular lens of non-discrimination law the lens of common evidence and tort law. Those legal domains hold important keys that have not been sufficiently uncovered yet for the purposes of non-discrimination law.

Keywords:evidence, non-discrimination law, remedies

Disciplines:Social law

Project type:Collaboration project