Summary
The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) uses report published by the European Network of Independent Legal Experts in the Non-discrimination field, a network jointly managed by the Migration Policy Group and the Human European Consultancy
Description
The ICJ has referred to the Anti-discrimination Comparative Analysis in a case before the European Court of Human Rights. The Comparative Analysis reports annually on the implementation of the EC Racial Equality and the Employment Equality directives in the national law of all EU Member States, Croatia, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Turkey. The report is published by the European Network of Independent Legal Experts in the Non-discrimination field, which is jointly managed by MPG and HEC.
The Ladele case concerns a Christian officer of the London Borough of Islington (“Islington”) (a local public authority) whose duties were to register births and deaths, and conducting civil marriage ceremonies and register such marriages. She holds the view that marriage is the union of one man and one woman for life, and sincerely believes that same sex civil partnerships, which she describes as “marriage in all but name”, are contrary to God’s law. She consequently had held religious objection to registering civil partnerships between people of the same sex and requested that Islington make arrangements to accommodate her beliefs.
In May 2007, disciplinary proceedings were initiated against Ms. Ladele on the grounds that she “had refus[ed] to carry out work in relation to the civil partnership service solely on the grounds of [the] sexual orientation of the customers of that service”. At the issue of those proceedings, she was deemed to be in breach of Islington’s “Dignity for All” equality and diversity policy, aiming at promoting diversity and combating discrimination, and was required to include civil partnerships ceremonies as part of her duties, failing which her employment might be terminated.
ICJ, Professor Robert Wintemute, FIDH, and ILGA-Europe refer to the 2010 Comparative Analysis – Developing anti-discrimination law in Europe, the 27 EU Member States, Croatia, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Turkey compared, in their written submission before the ECtHR. This document provides a review of comparative law on the granting of religious exemptions to individuals in the provision of non-religious goods and services to gays and lesbians and is available here.
This case is particularly interesting with regard to the debate around reasonable accommodation beyond disability in the EU and employers looking to strike the right balance between the interests of employees holding religious convictions and the interests of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transsexual people.
About the European Network of Independent Legal Experts in the Non-discrimination Field
The Migration Policy Group and Human European Consultancy have established and manage a Network of independent legal experts in the non-discrimination field that provides independent information and advice on the implementation of the Article 19 TFEU (ex. Article 13 TEC) anti-discrimination Directives in all 27 Member States. In addition to the EU Member States, the candidate countries Turkey, Croatia and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia have been part of the Network since December 2009.
