Slovakia bans positive discrimination (original) (raw)
Positive action providing advantages for people of an ethnic or racial minority group is to be banned in Slovakia, striking a blow against EU policy on the matter.
The country’s constitutional court ruled on Monday (18 October) that such favourable provisions clashed with the Slovak constitution, as they “violated full equality before the law”.
In practical terms, the ruling means that measures such as preferential access to education or the requirement to hire a designated quota of minority group members, such as Roma, would be illegal.
End of a long dispute
The court’s decision put an end to a 15-month legal dispute between the Slovak government and the parliament, with the cabinet keen to dump Article 5 of the European Council Race Discrimination Directive.
The text allows the option of positive action and has been part of Slovak anti-discrimination law since July 2004.
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