Courts as actors of change in coping with discrimination in Slovakia (project)
From November 2021 till December 2022, we are implementing the project Courts as actors of change in coping with discrimination in Slovakia: informing, educating and sensitizing judges and the public to foster values of dignity and justice. The project is supported by the US Embassy in Slovakia within its Small Grants Program.
The main objective of the project is to strengthen the capability of courts to adequately deal with issues of inequality and discrimination and correspondingly with rights of those who are discriminated against and/or marginalized, and to increase the level of respect for and acceptation of these individuals and groups by the general public.
Another goal of the project is to inform and sensitize the general public on the situation of individuals and groups discriminated against, and to educate them on various aspects of discrimination in connection to various prohibited grounds.
The principle of equality and non-discrimination is a basic pillar of any legal system based on the rule of law and on the principles of human rights, tolerance and integration of those who represent minorities or are in any way marginalized. Yet its practical implementation still remains an illusion in Slovakia.
The project should support Slovakia´s capacity to address rule of law, to observe and promote human rights and foster a culture of social cohesion, tolerance, acceptance and inclusion of all individuals and groups who have been facing discrimination. The project can thus also indirectly contribute to their empowerment.
Slovakia can benefit from the experience and achievements of civil society, academia and the civil rights movement in the US with regard to the promotion of rights of individuals and groups who have been discriminated against on historical basis.
Project activities:
The core activities of the project will be educational, training and discussion events for judges from various types and degrees of courts in Slovakia on anti-discrimination law and on interdisciplinary issues connected to discrimination on various grounds. A part of these activities will be carried out in cooperation with US-based experts on the issues which will enable Slovak judges to benefit from someone else´s authentic experience and to get new perspectives and inspiration.
Discussion fora on issues of equality and non-discrimination in the broader perspective of legal and social change will be organised for judges and judicial advisors. They will focus on specific issues that will have emerged during the trainings as needing more attention and/or being of profound interest to the participants. The fora will start with a key presentation by US-based experts on the particular selected issue, for example on judicial and other remedies; on the situation and the process of legal entrenchment of rights of particularly disadvantaged individuals and groups, such as the elderly, the disabled, women, or immigrants; on specific conceptual issues, such as harassment, victimization, concepts of disability; on developments and trends in employment discrimination law.
The idea behind the discussion fora is to offer judges the opportunity to get a better understanding of processes that are behind legal and social changes in the field of equality and non-discrimination, to get inspiration and alternative views, and to achieve their greater sensitivity and internalization of the values and concepts that are behind equality for all.
CDA has carried out this kind of events for judges and other types of stakeholders in the past and all of them confirmed the potential and effectiveness of this concept. For example, in 2010, CDA organized a seminar for judges (supported by the US Embassy) on domestic violence with Isabel Marcus as the main presenter, a law professor of the New York University, Buffalo (U.S.A.), and the founder of the first law clinic on domestic violence in the country, and we also organized numerous events for educators and other stakeholders with Richard Roe, a law professor of at the Georgetown University, Washington D. C. and a founder and teacher of various legal clinics (type of education where law students acquire relevant legal and other professional skills directly at law school). One of the outcomes of this cooperation was establishing various legal clinics at Slovakian law faculties from 2002 onwards, when education at Slovak law faculties was still very conservative.
Information, training and educational materials (e. g. information on relevant cases/case summaries; information on relevant recommendations, decisions etc. by UN Treaty bodies) will be prepared/translated for the participants of the trainings and other project events. Some of the materials – e. g. cases descriptions/case summaries – will be also made accessible to the general public via a specific thematic website www.diskriminacia.sk which is administered by CDA.
This project will try to overcome the gap in the knowledge and sensitivity of courts and judges in the field of equality and non-discrimination and will, in co-operation with US-based representatives of the movements/initiatives that helped to shape the current law, policies, state of knowledge and the academic as well as the media discourse, empower them to deal with cases of discrimination in a professional manner based on human rights. Some, mainly media-related activities oriented towards more general public will complement and intensify the activities for courts and judges.
This project was funded by a grant from the United States Department of State. The opinions, findings and conclusions stated herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the United States Department of State.
