MINELRES: ERRC Welcomes Bulgarian Anti-Discrimination Law

[European Roma Rights Center]

Bulgaria Adopts Comprehensive Anti-Discrimination Law
September 18, 2003


The European Roma Rights Center (ERRC) welcomes the adoption by the 
Bulgarian Parliament, on September 16, 2003, of a comprehensive 
anti-discrimination law. Speaking on the occasion of the adoption of the 
law, ERRC Executive Director Dimitrina Petrova said: "This law is of 
particular significance for Roma. It opens the door for the provision of 
real and significant remedies to Romani victims of the very serious harm of 
racial discrimination, and moves Roma rights issues to a new level in 
Bulgaria. The Bulgarian Parliament has provided real political leadership 
to the governments of other countries of the Central and Eastern European 
region -- and indeed of Europe -- by demonstrating that adopting 
comprehensive anti-discrimination law is both possible and desirable."

The law as adopted bans discrimination on a number of grounds, including 
race, gender, religion, disability, age, and sexual orientation. The law 
provides that in prima facie cases of discrimination, the respondent has 
the burden of proving that discrimination did not occur. The law 
establishes an anti-discrimination Commission with specialised 
subcommittees for racial and gender discrimination. The Commission will 
consist of 9 members, 5 elected by Parliament and 4 appointed by the 
President, and will have the power to receive and investigate complaints 
and issue binding rulings, as well as to impose significant sanctions on 
perpetrators. The law includes provisions such that more than one victim 
can join a complaint in cases where the discriminatory abuse harms groups 
of people.

The law is in harmony with European Council of the European Union 
Directives 2000/43, 2000/78, 2002/73, providing the current standards on 
anti-discrimination law in Europe. The law also fulfils prior obligations 
freely adopted by the Bulgarian government in the Framework Programme for 
the Equal Integration of Roma into Bulgarian Society. The law consolidates 
Bulgarian anti-discrimination law -- to date scattered among various 
domestic legal provisions and for the most part ineffective -- into a 
single comprehensive act, thus improving the chances for real and 
comprehensive enforceability in practice.

The ERRC's legal consultant in Bulgaria, Margarita Ilieva, played a leading 
role in drafting and lobbying for passage of the law. The ERRC joins with 
Bulgarian civil society -- most notably the Bulgarian Helsinki Committee, 
which took a leading role in pressing for adoption of the law -- in urging 
the Bulgarian government to establish without delay the anti-discrimination 
Commission provided by the law, and ensure that it is staffed with 
individuals of relevant competence and experience with human rights issues.
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The European Roma Rights Center is an international public interest law
organisation which monitors the rights of Roma and provides legal defence
in cases of human rights abuse. For more information about the European
Roma Rights Center, visit the ERRC on the web at http://www.errc.org.

European Roma Rights Center
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P.O. Box 906/93
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Phone: +36 1 4132200
Fax:   +36 1 4132201

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