2. Introduction.................................................................................. 22 3
3 Page 4 5

2.1. Data-generating activities and methodology.......................... 22
2.2. Institutions included in the study............................................ 25
2.3. Guiding principles for independent institutions....................... 30
2.4. Guide to the report ................................................................ 32

3. Legal status, structure, resources and independence of the
specialised bodies ....................................................................... 34

3.1. Legal basis and governance.................................................. 34
3.1.1. Legal basis................................................................... 34
3.1.2. Mandate, objectives and tasks ..................................... 36
3.1.3. Criteria for the composition of the board....................... 38
3.1.4. Service terms for members of the board ...................... 42
3.1.5. Advisory groups ........................................................... 43
3.1.6. Summary of key points – legal basis and governance.. 44
3.2. Institutional structures ........................................................... 44
3.2.1. Internal division of tasks............................................... 45
3.2.2. Staff and competences required................................... 47
3.2.3. Working approaches .................................................... 50
3.2.4. Sharing facilities between institutions ........................... 51
3.2.5. Accessibility ................................................................. 51
3.2.6. Summary of key points -structures .............................. 54
3.3. Resources............................................................................. 55
3.3.1. Financial resources from the state ............................... 55
3.3.2. Project grants............................................................... 56
3.3.3. Other sources of support .............................................. 56
3.3.4. Summary of key points -resources .............................. 58

4. Horizontal approach to discrimination .......................................... 59
4.1. Horizontal integration ............................................................ 59
4.1.1. One coherent legal basis.............................................. 59
4.1.2. The integration of institutions ....................................... 62
4.1.3. Summary of key points – horizontal integration ............ 66
4.2. Scope of the institutions ........................................................ 67
4.2.1. Contextual scope ......................................................... 67
4.2.2. Summary of key points – scope ................................... 68

5. Role in relation to the direct victims of discrimination................... 69
5.1. Information about rights and legislation ................................. 69
5.2. Investigating complaints ........................................................ 71
5.3. Assisting in the legal process ................................................ 75 4
4 Page 5 6

5.3.1. Legal advice and settling cases outside the courtroom. 76
5.3.2. Legal advice and representation when pursuing cases
through the courts ........................................................ 81
5.4. Acting as a formal decision-making body .............................. 85
5.4.1. Change in discriminatory behaviour – courses for action90
5.4.2. Implementation of decisions......................................... 92
5.4.3. Appealing against legally-binding decisions ................. 93
5.5. Summary of key points – role towards direct victims of
discrimination ........................................................................ 93

6. Role and functioning in the political process ................................ 95
6.1. Formal role in the political process ........................................ 95
6.1.1. Role in the legislative process...................................... 96
6.1.2. Setting up monitoring systems ..................................... 98
6.2. Informal roles in the political process..................................... 99
6.2.1. Informal consultative roles............................................ 99
6.2.2. Influencing the institutions' own scope ....................... 101
6.3. Summary of key points – political process........................... 103

7. Role and functioning in dissemination of information, research and
awareness building.................................................................... 104

7.1. Studies and written documentation...................................... 104
7.1.1. Dissemination of information ...................................... 105
7.1.2. Conducting or commissioning surveys and reports .... 107
7.1.3. Making recommendations based on the studies......... 108
7.1.4. Summary of key points – studies................................ 110
7.2. Anti-discrimination training .................................................. 111
7.2.1. Production of training material.................................... 113
7.2.2. Provision of training and training methodology ........... 114
7.2.3. Training of trainers ..................................................... 116
7.2.4. Summary of key points -training ................................ 117
7.3. Campaigning....................................................................... 118
7.3.1. Changing general attitudes and public opinion ........... 118
7.3.2. Specific campaigns .................................................... 121
7.3.3. Creating visibility in the media.................................... 122
7.3.4. Summary of key points -campaigning........................ 122
7.4. Co-operation with other organisations, civil society and social
partners............................................................................... 123
7.4.1. Network-building institutions....................................... 123
7.4.2. Capacity-building........................................................ 124 5
5 Page 6 7

7.4.3. Including other organisations in one's own work ........ 127
7.4.4. Summary of key points – co-operation ....................... 128

Appendix A: Institutional profiles .................................................... 129 6
6 Page 7 8
1 Report on the role, structure and functioning of specialised bodies to promote equality and/ or combat discrimination – Final Report
1. Executive Summary
This report was commissioned by the European Commission in the
framework of the Community Action Programme to combat discrimi-nation
(2001-2006). The Action Programme is designed to support
and supplement efforts at Community level and in the Member States
to promote measures to prevent and combat discrimination taking ac-count,
among other things, of legislative developments.

Council Directive 2000/ 43/ EC implementing the principle of equal
treatment between persons irrespective of racial or ethnic origin lays
down a framework for combating discrimination. As part of this work,
each Member State must establish one or more bodies with a remit to
analyse the problems involved, study possible solutions and make
recommendations, and provide concrete assistance for the victims of
discrimination.

The aim of the present study is to give an impetus to the work of the
entities in the Member States charged with the creation of these
bodies. The report consists of an analysis of the work of existing
bodies working to promote equality and combat discrimination.

The analysis and examples of the experiences of the various
institutions are to be found in the remaining chapters of the report. It
should be noted that the present conclusions are not to be considered
exhaustive. Using the methodology selected, the findings are based
on observations that relate to a limited number of institutions. They
will therefore more often represent an example of good practice, a
valuable experience or an interesting idea rather than a trend or
common approach. The reader is advised to take this into account
when reading the report.

1.1. Structure, mandate, and resources
The Directive 2000/ 43/ EC outlines the aims and tasks of the bodies
for the promotion of equal treatment as: 7
7 Page 8 9
2 Report on the role, structure and functioning of specialised bodies to promote equality and/ or combat discrimination – Final Report

giving independent assistance to the victims of discrimination,

conducting surveys and studies, and

publishing reports and recommendations.

The requirements of the Directive concerning the specialised bodies
are in line with the recommendations made by the European
Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) under the
Council of Europe.

The ECRI refers to the fundamental principles laid down at the first
International Meeting of the National Institutions for the Promotion
and Protection of Human Rights in Paris during 7-9 October 1991
(known as the "Paris Principles"). The Paris Principles set out the
following minimum set of standards for independent commissions:

Independence guaranteed by a constitutional or legislative
framework

Autonomy from government

Pluralism, including pluralism of composition

A broad mandate

Adequate powers of investigation

Sufficient resources

1.1.1. Mandate, scope, and independence
The majority of the 21 institutions included in the study are estab-lished
by national laws adopted by parliament. Typically, the
legal basis provides a mandate for the institution and a framework
defining the scope of its work and activities. Some of the institutions
have their legal basis in secondary legislation, for example in
ministerial decrees or administrative orders. This is the case for the
French Commissions d'Accès à la Citoyenneté (CODAC) and the
Italian Commission for Integration Policies. A few institutions, the
Dutch National Bureau against Racial Discrimination (LBR), the Dutch
Expertise Centre Age and Society (LBL), and the Danish Advisory
and Documentation Centre on Racial Discrimination (DRC), are inde-pendent
foundations and are not established by national legislation. 8
8 Page 9 10
3 Report on the role, structure and functioning of specialised bodies to promote equality and/ or combat discrimination – Final Report
A body's legal basis may have implications for its relative
independence. With a firm legal basis in the form of a national act
containing clear descriptions of its scope and a mandate passed by
the parliament, it is more difficult for a government to alter the role
and activities of an institution. Alterations in such cases will typically
require parliamentary negotiations and the adoption of a new
legislative act. Thus in situations where an institution acts or makes
statements in a manner which conflicts with the government of the
day, a firm legal basis may serve to counteract any intent of swift
political interference. On the other hand, a body which is established
by secondary legislation or by a law, which does not clearly specify
the role, mandate and scope of its work may be more prone to
interference.

In most cases the mandate and duties of the specialised body or
institution are defined in the legislative act, which establishes its legal
basis.

The work of a number of the institutions, such as the three Swedish
Ombudsmen and the Northern Ireland Equality Commission, is
governed by more than one legislative instrument, thereby providing
different tools and possibilities depending on the area of discrimina-tion
in question.

It can be argued that accountability to Parliament rather than to
Government would secure an institution's independence to a greater
degree. However, when this debate arose in the case of the Swedish
Ombudsmen, it was argued by some that the members of Parliament
might also speak for specific interests and make it difficult for the
institution to manoeuvre freely. Therefore, it was argued, the key was
to ensure a firm legal basis instead, including a clear mandate for the
institution.

1.1.2. Appointment of the Board
The appointment of the Board also touches upon issues of
independence, continuity and effective authority. 9
9 Page 10 11
4 Report on the role, structure and functioning of specialised bodies to promote equality and/ or combat discrimination – Final Report
The board of an independent body is the guarantor of the pursuit of
the objectives and tasks set out for the institution, and ensures that its
work is undertaken independently and in consistent accord with its
mandate. This includes being independent of the state authorities as
well as of other interests.

A number of the different models, which exist for the appointment of
the boards of the institutions, have been included in this study. It is
broadly possible to distinguish between two basic models: Boards
constituted of the representatives of named institutions, and boards
made up of individuals who have been selected purely on the basis of
their merits.

The first approach stresses the network perspective and often, it
seems, a desire to ensure that relevant interests are given a voice on
the board. An important issue for this first type of board is to ensure
that the board members do not merely represent their own narrow
interests but also the overall interests of the institution in question.

The second approach, where individuals apply and are selected on
merit, as is the case with the Italian Commission for Integration Poli-cies
and the British Commission for Racial Equality (among others),
seeks to overcome this potential criticism. It may also be more com-petitive,
in the sense that the reposting of vacant board positions in
the press opens up an opportunity for anybody to be
appointed, not just the representatives of a named group of organisa-tions
and institutions. In this respect it may be a more dynamic model.
On the other hand, the risk of political interference may potentially be
greater if the government sets very prescriptive criteria for board
member selection. To guard against undue political influence when
appointments are made to the three equality Commissions in the UK,
the recruitment process is overseen by an independent Commis-sioner
for Public Appointments. An assessor who is independent of
Government is also involved to bring objectivity to the process. 10
10 Page 11 12
5 Report on the role, structure and functioning of specialised bodies to promote equality and/ or combat discrimination – Final Report
Typically, board members serve a term of three to six years. To
ensure the independence of the board, in many cases a clause in the
law stipulates that the mandate of the members of the board cannot
be withdrawn, or only under specific extraordinary circumstances.
Obviously, the intention is to ensure that a board member cannot be
dismissed arbitrarily.

1.1.3 Institutional structures, working approaches and acces-sibility
In terms of their internal organisation the institutions appear to have
very different structures and cultures, consisting of organic, loosely
structured organisations at one extreme, and highly-tuned
management-based organisations with mission statements, corporate
plans, performance indicators and monitoring procedures at the other.

The staff and competences of the various institutions differ according
to their aims and priorities. The staff of the institutions vary in number
from only 4 to just over 200 employees.

In some institutions the tasks are apportioned and organised
according to the laws and instruments, which regulate the institution's
work. This structure is typically completed by departments dealing
with information or training.

In a few institutions the work is done in teams. For instance, the
Dutch National Bureau against Racial Discrimination (LBR) has
established working groups on specific issues which combine
different competences. By organising its work among groups instead
of along departmental lines, the LBR seeks to encourage knowledge
sharing and to avoid staff only considering their own areas of
competence.

The Equality Authority in Ireland (EA) has integrated nine grounds of
discrimination, organising its work by function rather than according to
the field of discrimination. The main purpose of such a structure is to 11
11 Page 12 13
6 Report on the role, structure and functioning of specialised bodies to promote equality and/ or combat discrimination – Final Report
ensure learning and knowledge sharing concerning the various fields
of discrimination.

The Dutch Equal Treatment Commission was previously divided into
three chambers, but has decided to let all 9 commissioners and 13
juridical advisors work with all types of cases. Firstly, it enhanced
flexibility, and in addition it was considered illogical to separate the
various grounds of discrimination, since the Commission has been
seeing an increasing number of cases where more than one ground
of discrimination is involved.

The potential weaknesses, such as a lack of specialisation and the
risk of duplicate work when working across fields of discrimination, is
judged by the institutions to be outweighed by the benefits of
combining competences and applying one's knowledge concerning a
given ground of discrimination to the other grounds.

The study demonstrates that building up new institutions or merging
several institutions takes time, and that time is what is needed to
establish an effective working approach.

Some institutions share facilities and information in order to lower
administrative costs. The Swedish Ombudsman against
discrimination because of sexual orientation is located together with
the Swedish Ombudsman against ethnic discrimination. The former
buys administrative services from the latter, and they share common
telephone and data networks.

However, co-location also presents potential problems. In Ireland, two
institutions, the Irish Equality Authority (EA) and the Irish Office of the
Director for Equality Investigations (ODEI), are located at the same
address. This has led to severe identity confusion between the two
institutions, not only in the minds of the public but also at an
organisational and political level. In July 2002 the ODEI commenced
using "ODEI -the equality tribunal" as its day-to -day business name
in order to counter the confusion over identity. 12
12 Page 13 14
7 Report on the role, structure and functioning of specialised bodies to promote equality and/ or combat discrimination – Final Report
Accessibility is a major issue for victims of discrimination. For a victim
of discrimination, who may often belong to a marginalized group in
society, the mere step of seeking advice and reporting a discrimina-tory
experience may be a rather daunting task. If the person has to
overcome great obstacles to reach the anti-discrimination body, it is
likely that the case will never be reported and registered. The
accessibility issues include an institution's physical accessibility, its
image, the language skills possessed by its staff, and people's
confidence that it will handle discrimination cases both promptly and
professionally.

1.1.4 Resources
The resources available to an institution, including its funding, have
direct practical implications for its capacity to implement its mandate.
It can be difficult to meet the expectations of the public and politicians
when struggling with limited resources.

All 21 institutions in this study receive public funds. The majority are
granted resources annually from the fiscal budget. Some are financed
by particular Ministries or Offices. A few of the institutions have no
separate budget but are financed from the administrative budget of
another entity (as is currently the case for the Portuguese Commis-sion),
or are constituted as a part of local government, as is the case
with the French CODAC.

The immediate advantage for an institution of being financed from the
annual fiscal budget is that a steady and predictable source of income
exists which guarantees its ongoing activities. Of course, that
assumes that the allocations are reasonably proportionate to the
intended tasks of the organisation. Nevertheless, fluctuations due to
changing political priorities will remain an issue.

Also, where grants are made following an application and detailed
work plans, a government or minister may directly or indirectly be
able to influence the overall direction and priorities of the work of the
body. 13
13 Page 14 15
8 Report on the role, structure and functioning of specialised bodies to promote equality and/ or combat discrimination – Final Report
Being able to attract sponsors to provide services for free can be a
major opportunity for institutions involved in providing information,
image building and awareness raising and campaigning. In addition,
some organisations raise private money, but their contribution to the
overall budgets of the institutions is for all the institutions surveyed
very limited.

1.1.5 Horizontal approach to discrimination
There is a tendency towards the integration of several grounds of dis-crimination
in legislation and in institutional structures. This is the
case in Ireland (and in Belgium from mid-2002), and it is currently un-der
discussion in the United Kingdom and Germany, among other
countries.

In the UK, the government announced on 15 th May 2002, following a
consultation process, that it finds that there are good arguments in
favour of a single equality body, and a Cabinet Office project team is
looking into the question and expected to announce initial conclusions
in September 2002.

The Equality Commission for Northern Ireland is in a transitional
phase in which the process of amalgamation of several institutions
into one has been completed but where the horizontal integration of
the legal basis for the institution's work still has to be agreed.

The integrated approach is seen as advantageous in its potential for
ensuring legal coherence, consistency and clarity concerning rights.
Another benefit is that of effectiveness and giving the bodies the
necessary influence to have an impact. Horizontal integration may
also lessen any perceived hierarchy of the different grounds of dis-crimination.

There are also voices of concern. In particular, it is reported that
some of the older, better-established institutions worry that an inte-grated
approach could mean that the types of rights they are 14
14 Page 15 16
9 Report on the role, structure and functioning of specialised bodies to promote equality and/ or combat discrimination – Final Report
promoting would lose political impact, public attention or resources if
they were amalgamated with other grounds of discrimination.

The experience in Ireland, which has a fully integrated approach, is
that a single institution dealing with nine integrated grounds of
discrimination is all the stronger, and that in addition to the value of
the mutual exchange of experiences, the work done with one ground
of discrimination can be applied to the others in a mutually reinforcing
way.

According to the interviews conducted in the institutions working with
or towards an integrated approach, it is crucial to deliberately ensure
that the work done with all the various grounds of discrimination
within a single institution is visible.

1.1.6 Contextual scope
The contextual scope of the individual body reflects the boundaries
and limitations in the legislation of the different Member States.
Whereas some of the bodies have no contextual limitations in scope,
others are restricted to certain areas. This especially concerns the
bodies investigating cases of discrimination or resolving them, either
through giving opinions or bringing cases to court. The scope of these
institutions is often limited to employment and labour-market-related
incidents.

1.1.7 Recommendations concerning structure, mandate, and resources

The independence of the institution should be guaranteed by
statute and a clear mandate.

The composition of the board has to be considered with re-gards
to representation of various groups, ensuring compe-tences
and independence

To ensure independence of the board, a clause in the legisla-tion
should stipulate the length of the term and that the man-date
of the board members cannot be withdrawn before end of
term 15
15 Page 16 17
10 Report on the role, structure and functioning of specialised bodies to promote equality and/ or combat discrimination – Final Report

The internal division of work should provide possibilities for
knowledge sharing across various ground of discrimination

Accessibility is a key concern to ensure that victims of dis-crimination
receive the assistance they need

Financial resources should be granted on the annual fiscal
budget in order to ensure continuity and independence

If establishing one body working across all grounds of dis-crimination,
it is important to maintain focus and expertise on
the different grounds of discrimination

1.2 Role in relation to the direct victims of discrimination
The function of the institutions in relation to the direct victims of
discrimination spans a broad range of possible activities: providing
rights information, advising victims, dealing with complaints, carrying
out investigations, conducting settlements and mediation, making
formal decisions and giving assistance in court cases.

1.2.1 Information about rights and legislation
The majority of the institutions provide information about individual
rights, legislation and case law. Typically, the institutions provide
access to relevant legislation and a presentation of rights and options
on their web pages.

Quite a number of institutions, amongst other the Belgian Centre pour
l'Egalité des Chances et la Lutte contre le Racisme, the French
Commissions Départementales d'Accès à la Citoyenneté (CODAC),
the Danish Advisory and Documentation Centre on Racial Discrimi-nation
and the Dutch Equal Treatment Commission operate tele-phone
lines for the benefit of those seeking advice and assistance.

The majority of organisations give individual advice on whether a
person is likely to have a case and how to proceed with it.

Advice can also be concerned with preventive issues. For instance,
organisations and employers may seek advice on how to interpret
legislation or how to establish policies for the various grounds. 16
16 Page 17 18
11 Report on the role, structure and functioning of specialised bodies to promote equality and/ or combat discrimination – Final Report
1.2.2 Investigations
A number of the institutions collect and investigate complaints filed by
victims of discrimination. While some institutions mainly assist
applicants in presenting their complaints, other organisations have a
more formal role in investigating reported cases of discrimination.
This is the case for the British Commission for Racial Equality (CRE)
and the Swedish Ombudsmen, both of which have special powers to
gain access to information from the parties involved in the course of
its investigations.

The CRE has a particularly strong mandate to undertake formal in-vestigation,
and can require an organisation or company to follow in-structions
for action. This is also the case with the Dutch Equal
Treatment Commission, which has a formal right to demand informa-tion
from the parties concerned. In principle, the parties are obliged
to provide this.

Some institutions can initiate investigations on their own initiative if
discrimination is found to be present in a particular area of society.
For instance, the Swedish Ombudsman Against Ethnic Discrimination
(DO), the French Groupe d'Etude et de Lutte contre les Discrimina-tions
(GELD), the British CRE and the Equality Authority in Ireland
(EA) investigate suspected structural discrimination.

Another example is situational testing, which is practised by the
Belgian CECLR and the Berlin Commissioner for Foreigners' Affairs:
Identically-clothed people of different ethnic backgrounds are asked
to approach, for example, the same discothèque or bar to determine
whether they receive systematically unequal treatment.

1.2.3 Assistance in resolving cases
Several organisations provide assistance in resolving cases, either
through legal advice and attempts to settle cases out-of-court, or
through assistance and representation when a case is taken to court. 17
17 Page 18 19
12 Report on the role, structure and functioning of specialised bodies to promote equality and/ or combat discrimination – Final Report
Disputes outside the court system may be resolved on the basis of
written complaints issued by the institution on behalf of the victim/
complainant, a technique used by the Belgian CECLR, among others.
Another approach is a more formal mediation process such as that
operated by the Office of the Director of Equality Investigations in
Ireland. Several of the institutions are aiming to increase their media-tion
activities, since a voluntary settlement between the parties may
often be more helpful to a victim than a formal statement or a verdict.
It is also less costly and time-consuming in terms of the human and
financial resources involved in pursuing a case through the traditional
legal system.

1.2.4 Legal advice and representation when processing
cases through the courts

Only a few institutions, such as the Belgian CECLR, the Northern
Ireland Equality Commission, the Irish Equality Authority, the Danish
Documentation Centre and the British CRE, have experience in
bringing cases to court. This lack of experience is by several institu-tions
explained by the newness of the legislation, a lack of resources,
and a strategic concern to ensure that the first case brought to court
will be successful. Among those institutions which does bring cases
to court, the Belgian CECLR has a particularly strong mandate which
allows court actions even where there is no direct victim of discrimi-nation.

1.2.5 Acting as a formal decision-making body
Two of the institutions involved in this study have the power to act as
quasi-judicial bodies giving formal rulings in cases of possible dis-crimination.
One of them, the Dutch Equal Treatment Commission,
hands down advisory rulings with no legally-binding status, while the
rulings of the other, the Office of the Director of Equality Investiga-tions
(ODEI), are legally binding.

It is generally considered essential that when a ruling is made, the
basis of the case and the arguments supporting the ruling should be 18
18 Page 19 20
13 Report on the role, structure and functioning of specialised bodies to promote equality and/ or combat discrimination – Final Report
clearly stated. This strengthens the legitimacy of the decision and
makes the offender more liable to observe the ruling given, even
where no instruments of enforcement exist.

According to both the institution itself and its stakeholders, a
particular virtue of the decisions of the Irish Office of the Director of
Equality Investigations (ODEI) is that the Office can order a specific
course of action to be taken subsequently. The order is also legally
binding.

Other institutions also try to prevent the repetition of discriminatory
behaviour, among other things by making available training courses
and advice to particular types of companies or to those whom it has
found guilty of discrimination. For instance, the Dutch Equal
Treatment Commission advises hotels, restaurants and discotheques
on how to avoid discriminating against people of a non-Dutch ethnic
background. Similarly, when settling a case out of court, the
acceptance of training sessions for the staff of a company or
organisation found to be guilty of discrimination may form part of the
agreement.

1.2.6 Recommendations on assistance to victims of discrimina-tion

The focus on providing assistance in individual cases should
be supplemented by a focus on the more long-term structural
changes in discriminatory practices.

The institutions should be allowed to take up cases of more
general concern for investigation in order to raise issues of
common concern.

The assistance should be provided for free, both to victims
and witnesses of discrimination.

The institution has to carefully consider its role in mediation as
this function might raise some principal questions on the pro-tection
of the law versus the function of creating voluntary set-tlements.
A possible solution is to place the mediation role in a
separate institution in order for roles not to become blurred. 19
19 Page 20 21
14 Report on the role, structure and functioning of specialised bodies to promote equality and/ or combat discrimination – Final Report
1.3 Role and functioning in the political process
The report distinguishes between formal and informal roles, with the
formal role comprising an institution's statutory rights or legally-established
role in the political process.

The formal role in the political process may be exercised through
active participation in the preparation of legislation, the statutory right
to be consulted and to comment on draft legislation, and by the
monitoring of practices after an item of legislation has come into
force.

Institutions such as the Belgian CECLR and the Swedish Ombuds-men
have a formal role in giving comments or opinions on existing
legislation and new legislative initiatives. On the other hand, a
primary role of the Irish Equality Authority and the British CRE is one
of regularly reviewing the legislation which underpins the institution
itself.

Informal roles in the political process include making requests to
present views to parliamentary committees, sitting in on advisory
committees, and lobbying the administration and government. They
also include ad hoc involvement such as hearings and campaigns, or
giving responses to consultation papers issued by government.
Representatives of the institutions have sometimes also been invited
to sit in on governmental preparatory commissions in order to provide
expert input into the development of new legislation or new
approaches to equal treatment.

1.3.1 Recommendations on involvement in the political process

The political role of the institution should be formalised in or-der

for its expertise to be included in legislative initiatives and
in reviews of legislation.

Where a political culture exists of integrating organisations in
the political process, the institutions themselves can promote
contacts to the relevant political partners. 20
20 Page 21 22
15 Report on the role, structure and functioning of specialised bodies to promote equality and/ or combat discrimination – Final Report
1.4 Dissemination of information, research and awareness building
A substantial proportion of the institutions have the key function of
providing information about relevant legislation and discrimination in
general. The institutions' roles are numerous, with some conducting
or commissioning research, publishing research results and making
recommendations, or providing training, raising awareness via
campaigns or the media, or acting as network-building institutions.

The institutions use various means to disseminate information to the
general public or to specific target groups. These are often printed
publications, such as opinions, statements or comments on
legislation. Many institutions emphasise the importance of a well-designed
and easily-accessible website to provide data regarding
discrimination and give practical information for use in discrimination
cases.

A number of institutions, such as the British CRE, the Belgian
CECLR, the Irish ODEI, and the French GELD provide systematic
information on case law. They often compile databases of rulings and
settlements which can be accessed internally and/ or on their web-sites.
A common objective is to establish agreements with the
relevant courts to establish an automatic inflow of information
concerning relevant rulings, and concerning case law in particular.

Apart from the dissemination of information about equal treatment
and legal cases, a number of institutions provide information
designed to create a more positive climate and attitude towards those
vulnerable to discrimination. One example is the Dutch National
Bureau against Racial Discrimination, which every other month
publishes a small newspaper about multicultural issues, and contains
positive stories about people living together.

1.4.1 Conducting or commissioning surveys and reports
The undertaking of studies and writing of reports containing detailed
documentation comprises an important tool for most of the bodies 21
21 Page 22 23
16 Report on the role, structure and functioning of specialised bodies to promote equality and/ or combat discrimination – Final Report
concerned with equal treatment. The collation of data, new juxta-positions
of facts or the gathering of entirely new data can highlight
issues of discrimination which have hitherto gone unnoticed.

Independent surveys may take their points of departure in individual
cases, specific themes or perceived patterns of discrimination.

None of the institutions carries out systematic reviews of the discrimi-nation
and equality situation in their respective countries, but some of
them intend heading in that direction eventually.

Some organisations undertake research themselves, but many of
them decide to let commissions, universities or research institutes do
the research. The extent of survey and research activities often
reflects the available financial means.

1.4.2 Making recommendations based on studies
In many instances, the survey and research activities provide the
basis for the institutions to identify deficiencies in existing laws or
pinpoint discriminatory practices, and to issue recommendations to
groups of organisations, companies and decision-makers.

Some organisations, such as the Equality Authority in Ireland and the
British CRE, aim to provide guidelines and recommendations at both
political, organisational and personal levels. In addition to the studies
which they either commission or carry out themselves, they prepare
publications that focus exclusively on establishing codes of practice
or guidelines in specific areas. Such codes of practices, guidelines
and recommendations are generally seen as helpful by other institu-tions
and organisations in diminishing discriminatory practices.

1. 4. 3 Training activities
Over the years some of the institutions have gained considerable ex-perience
in anti-discrimination and equality training. In general, the
institutions contribute to training in four different ways: contributions to 22
22 Page 23 24
17 Report on the role, structure and functioning of specialised bodies to promote equality and/ or combat discrimination – Final Report
curriculum development, the production of training material and
training methodologies, the provision of training, and the training of
trainers.

Contributions to curriculum development are often made in the con-text
of more general training activities for particular groups, such as
police officers or magistrates. Several organisations such as the
French GELD, the Belgian CECLR and the Luxembourg Commission
have been actively involved in training courses for police officers, and
the Belgian CECLR interestingly has a long-term fixed contract with
the Belgian state to provide training courses for young magistrates as
a part of their professional education.

Several institutions focus on developing training material and toolkits.
Indeed, some organisations see the question of whether to be in-volved
in the large-scale provision of training, or whether to produce
training material and methodologies for other organisations instead,
as a strategic choice. The case of the British Commission for Racial
Equality (CRE) illustrates this point. 40,000 public authorities have to
comply with the new law on public duty, which was introduced in the
recently amended Race Relations Act. With a staff of 200, it would be
impossible for the CRE to provide the necessary training. Instead the
CRE has been involved in the planning of the training approach
recommended, and the training itself will be contract-based and
managed by the individual public authorities.

Two institutions, the Dutch National Bureau against Racial
Discrimination and the Belgian CECLR, have developed co-operation
with schools on the combat of discrimination, and have, among other
things, established panels to assess the materials used in primary
schools.

Some institutions provide training by request only and on a fully-funded
basis, while others organise training campaigns targeted to
specific audiences and free of charge. 23
23 Page 24 25
18 Report on the role, structure and functioning of specialised bodies to promote equality and/ or combat discrimination – Final Report
While cost-free training based on training campaigns directed towards
specific audiences may intuitively seem more effective, the question
appears to be more complex. Evaluations made by the CECLR have
shown that companies or organisations requesting training consider
their motivations more carefully and are more eager to ensure proper
attendance when they incur the costs of the training.

Meanwhile, there has been a gradual shift in focus in the Belgian
CECLR, among others, from traditional anti-discrimination training to
diversity management and inter-cultural communication.

1.4.4 Training of trainers
Most of the institutions place an emphasis on providing training that
involves more persons than the immediate target group. The ap-proach
has been to train teachers who can convey their knowledge to
pupils, to train labour union representatives so that they can work
proactively against discrimination, or to train key administrative staff
so that an equal treatment perspective can be integrated into admin-istrative
practices.

1.4.5 Campaigning
The majority of the institutions do not invest resources in large-scale
campaigns. This is either because they do not have access to the re-sources
required, or because in some cases such campaigns are not
considered sufficiently effective.

However, organisations such as the CRE and the Disability Rights
Commission in the United Kingdom do organise annual high-profile
campaigns. The CLCLR in Belgium also occasionally conducts large-scale
campaigns, including radio and TV-spots.

Other organisations concentrate on lower-key events, such as the
Danish Board for Ethnic Equality's 'baton conference', which it or-ganises
every year. At the conference, batons are given to compa-nies,
municipalities, organisations or state institutions, which thereby 24
24 Page 25 26
19 Report on the role, structure and functioning of specialised bodies to promote equality and/ or combat discrimination – Final Report
take on the obligation to work to promote ethnic equality and combat
discrimination inside their particular organisation.

Other institutions are already campaigning in preparation for the im-plementation
of the directives based on Article 13 of the Amsterdam
Treaty. For instance, the Berlin Commissioner for Foreigners' Affairs
is campaigning among other departments and organisations like
housing agencies and discotheques to prepare them for the changes
which Article 13 will involve.

Publicity in relation to court rulings or the issuing of legal opinions
through carefully planned exposure in the media can also be a strat-egy
for placing an institution and its concerns on the mental map of
policy makers and the public. For instance, the Swedish Ombudsman
against discrimination because of sexual orientation actively makes
use of the media in presenting his opinions, and has thereby suc-ceeded
in giving a high profile to the issue.

1.4.6 Co-operation with other organisations, civil society and social partners
All the institutions are involved in co-operating with other organisa-tions,
NGOs and governmental bodies in one way or another. Some
also actively include potentially discriminated groups in their daily
work.

The French CODAC in particular acts as a network-building institution
between its partners, and provides an annual forum for the exchange
of experiences and information. The intention is to make the forces in
civil society actively work with the public administration to promote
integration and combat discrimination via regular working groups
which typically deal with labour market integration, education, housing
and other social conditions, and access to justice.

Some of the bodies which are working either to resolve cases of dis-crimination
or are tackling more structural barriers to equal treatment
are dependent on organisations with greater first-hand knowledge.
For instance, in the Netherlands the Equal Treatment Commission
works to resolve cases of possible discrimination, whereas organisa- 25
25 Page 26 27
20 Report on the role, structure and functioning of specialised bodies to promote equality and/ or combat discrimination – Final Report
tions like the Expertise Centre on Age and Society and the National
Bureau against Racial Discrimination aim to develop the available
knowledge and documentation concerning discrimination due to age
or ethnic background.

Another way of building networks and capacities is to include
stakeholders in working groups or advisory groups.

One example is the British Commission for Racial Equality's private
company group, which assists the CRE in developing strategies to
make the organisation more visible and effective in a private company
context. Similarly, the Office of the Director of Equality Investigations
in Ireland has established a users' forum where users, stakeholders
and others are invited to participate in discussions about the organi-sation
and its procedures. No specific cases or the legal aspects of
cases are discussed.

Finally, the Portuguese Commission for Equality and against Racial
Discrimination, where a Commissioner has a transversal function
spanning a series of different commissions, forums and working
groups, is an example of a particular approach to bringing together
information from representatives of a broad variety of ethnic minority
groups and other groups vulnerable to discrimination.

In conclusion, all institutions surveyed in this study, consider net-working
and the effective exchange of information and experience as
crucial for the efficient conducting of their roles in combating discrimi-nation.

1.4.7 Recommendations concerning information, research and awareness building

The institutions should be ensured sufficient means in order to
make surveys an available tool for analysing the actual level
of discrimination and problems regarding equal treatment.

Institutes should be encouraged to co-ordinate surveys and
make long-term plans on issues to be covered in order not to 26
26 Page 27 28
21 Report on the role, structure and functioning of specialised bodies to promote equality and/ or combat discrimination – Final Report
allow news headlines and the financial resources available to
determine the areas to be investigated.

Training should be used as a tool for changing discriminatory
practices so that cases of discrimination are not repeated.

Training material and training programmes should be devel-oped
and directed to the target groups – their experiences
should be taken as point of departure for the provision of in-formation
and the change in attitudes and actions.

The institution should focus on training with a multiplier effect
in order for the resources to be spent most effectively.

Formalised structures of networking both at managerial and
staff level can ensure the knowledge sharing and capacity
building between different equal treatment institutions 27
27 Page 28 29
22 Report on the role, structure and functioning of specialised bodies to promote equality and/ or combat discrimination – Final Report
2. Introduction
This Draft Final Report is the third deliverable of the project whose
purpose is the compilation of the report entitled "Report on the role,
structure and functioning of specialised bodies to promote equality
and/ or combat discrimination". The report refers to contract no.
VC/ 2001/ 0222.

The objective of the study is to analyse the role, powers, structure
and functioning of the existing specialised bodies to promote equality
and/ or combat discrimination within the Member States of the Euro-pean
Union, and to review them in a thematic report.

The aim is to provide information that may be of assistance to those
political entities of the 15 Member States, which have been tasked
with the implementation of the specialised bodies as required by Di-rective
2000/ 43/ EC of June 2000. The Directive prohibits racial and
ethnic discrimination in employment, education, social security and
health care, and in access to goods and services and housing. In or-der
to strengthen the protection against discrimination based on racial
or ethnic origin, each Member State must establish one or more bod-ies
to analyse the problems involved, study the possible solutions and
give practical assistance to the victims. The purpose of the study is to
provide inspiration and insight that may be useful to the entities
tasked with defining and establishing these specialised bodies.

2.1. Data-generating activities and methodology
The analysis in the present report is based on:

Desk study

Qualitative personal or telephone interviews

Group interviews

Case studies

During the preliminary phase a number of relevant specialised institu-tions
in the Member States were identified, and desk research and
exploratory interviews regarding these institutions as well as inter- 28
28 Page 29 30
23 Report on the role, structure and functioning of specialised bodies to promote equality and/ or combat discrimination – Final Report
views with selected government officials were conducted. Bases on
the interviews, a preliminary survey of the institutions and of existing
material concerning independent institutions, i. e. the ECRI and Paris
Principles explained below, interview guides for the telephone inter-views
were developed. This work was reported in the preliminary note
on methodology, which was delivered to the Commission on 7 Janu-ary
2002.

The subsequent data-generating activities included telephone inter-views
with some of the staff and management of 21 bodies in various
member states, plus interviews with representatives from the Member
State government bodies charged with implementing Directive
2000/ 43/ EC. An institutional profile was drawn up for each of the 21
bodies.

The criterion for the selection of the 21 institutions was that they were
engaged in some of the equal treatment activities outlined in Directive
2000/ 43/ EC, i. e. they were:

Organisations which according to member state representa-tives
are, or may become, specialised bodies to promote
equality and/ or combat discrimination as defined in Article 13
of Directive 2000/ 43/ EC of June 2000;

Organisations and bodies whose core activities fall within the
competences set out for the bodies promoting equal treat-ment,
as described in Article 13 of Council Directive
2000/ 43/ EC:

o providing independent assistance to victims of dis-crimination in pursuing their complaints about discrimi-nation,

and/ or
o conducting independent surveys, publishing independ-ent reports and making recommendations concerning

issues related to discrimination.

In addition, the organisations were to comprise a mix of insti-tutions
dealing with discrimination based on race or ethnicity
and those dealing with other types of discrimination. 29
29 Page 30 31
24 Report on the role, structure and functioning of specialised bodies to promote equality and/ or combat discrimination – Final Report
In screening the institutions and bodies, the following further criteria
were employed:

The body had to be recognised by the government or by pub-lic
opinion as a leader, if not an authority, in its field;

The body had to have a broad range of activities and be politi-cally
unaffiliated;

It should not be giving emphasis to one particular sub-group in
addressing a particular type of discrimination;

Between them, the institutions selected should represent vari-ous
organisational types;

The analysis should include bodies and organisations from a
broad range of EU member states.

In some member states, i. e. Austria, Greece and Spain, none of the
institutions identified in the preliminary analysis were among those
that seemed closest to fulfilling the above-mentioned criteria.

On 6 February 2002 an interim report was delivered which described
the current status and progress of the project.

Following the interim report, five of the institutions were selected for
case studies. A guiding principle for the selection of the five institu-tions
from among the total of 21 was that each of them could provide
lessons and examples of good practice which had potential inspira-tional
value to the entities charged with establishing the specialised
bodies. The Belgian and the two Irish institutions were especially in-teresting,
as they have either recently undergone or are in the proc-ess
of undergoing significant changes in scope and in grounds of dis-crimination
covered. These cases were intended to shed light on the
consequences of the choices, which were made, and to provide ma-terial
for an assessment of their advantages and disadvantages. The
Dutch Equal Treatment Commission was of interest because it has
the power to hand down opinions in discrimination cases. The work of
the Swedish Ombudsman against discrimination because of sexual
orientation was also of interest, since it involved resolving cases
through mediation and was concerned with a different ground of dis-crimination
to ethnic and racial discrimination. 30
30 Page 31 32
25 Report on the role, structure and functioning of specialised bodies to promote equality and/ or combat discrimination – Final Report
Each case study was conducted as a three-day on-site visit by one
consultant. During these visits each consultant carried out personal
and/ or group interviews with members of the staff and management
of the institution, as well as with selected stakeholders.

On the basis of the generated data, PLS RAMBOLL has produced a
synthesised analysis in this draft final report. The thematic analysis
gives an overview of the positive and negative elements connected to
each theme in relation to the role, powers, structure and functioning
of the existing specialised bodies.

The annex of the report contains the qualitative institutional profiles of
the 21 institutions, which were included in the study.

2.2. Institutions included in the study
The majority of the 21 institutions included in the study either cover
discrimination based solely on race and ethnicity or a broad range of
discriminatory grounds. One institution covers discrimination on the
basis of sexual orientation, two exclusively cover discrimination on
the basis of disability, and one covers discrimination on the grounds
of age.

Some institutions describe their work as including national or locally-defined
grounds of discrimination, such as the Finnish Ombudsman's
inclusion of the so-called "old" ethnic minorities of Finland, the Sami
and the Roma people; and the Irish institutions' inclusion of the Trav-ellers'
community.

Below is an overview of the 21 institutions included in the analysis.
Full details on all these bodies can be found in the Annexes to the
report. Bodies marked in bold are those chosen for the particular case
studies. 31
31 Page 32 33

26 Report on the role, structure and functioning of specialised bodies to promote equality and/ or combat discrimination – Final Report
Country Name (* 5 case studies) Grounds of discrimination included Role of institution
Belgium Centre for Equal Opportuni-ties
and the Fight Against
Racism (Centrum voor
gelijkheid van kansen en
voor racismebestrijding,
Centre pour L'egalite des
chances et la lutte contre le
racisme, CECLR) *

Racial and ethnic origin.
In the future the Centre will also cover discrimi-nation
based on religion and belief, disability,
age, and sexual orientation.

Informal role in decision-making
Training
Counselling
Legal advice
Mediation
Bringing cases to court

Germany The Commissioner for For-eigners'
Affairs of the Berlin
Senate
(Die Ausländerbeauftragte
des Senats von Berlin)

Racial and ethnic origin, and religious grounds -mostly
related to anti-Semitism and discrimina-tion
against Muslims.

Campaigns
Training
Policy advice
Counselling
Mediation

The Board for Ethnic Equality 1
(Nævnet for Etnisk Ligestilling)
Racial and ethnic origin and religion. Indirectly
with gender issues.
Statements on issues of
discrimination
Counselling
Campaigns

Denmark

The Advisory and Documenta-
tion Centre on Racial Discrimi-
nation (Dokumentations-og
Rådgivningscenteret for
racediskrimination, DRC-DK) 2

Racial and ethnic origin and religion. Telephone hotline
Legal assistance
Legal representation
Research projects

Regional Citizenship Commis-
sions
(Commissions Départementa-
les d'accès à la citoyenneté,
CODAC)

Racial and ethnic origin. Network building
Advice
Specifying redress for
action, correction of dis-
criminatory practices

France

Group to study and combat
Discrimination (Groupe
d'Etude et de Lutte contre les
discriminations, GELD)

Racial and ethnic origin. Free phone line
Analysis of discrimination
Research
Campaigns

1 The Board will be closed by January 2003
2 The Centre's role may be reduced following the discontinuation of govern-ment

funding as of 2002 32
32 Page 33 34

27 Report on the role, structure and functioning of specialised bodies to promote equality and/ or combat discrimination – Final Report
Equality Authority (EA)* Gender, marital status, family status, sexual
orientation, religious belief, age, disability, race
(including colour, nationality or national or ethnic
origin) and membership of the Traveller commu-nity.

"Work towards the elimi-nation of unlawful dis-crimination
and the pro-motion of equality of op-portunity

Keep under review the equality legislation and if
necessary make propos-als to the Minister for
amendment Provide information and
advice Legal services
Equality reviews Codes of practice
Research Information campaigns

and training

Ireland

Office of the Director of
Equality Investigations
(ODEI) *
ODEI has now adopted
"ODEI – the Equality Tribu-nal"
as their day-to-day
business name.

Gender, marital status, family status, sexual
orientation, religious belief, age, disability, race
(including colour, nationality or national or ethnic
origin) and membership of the Traveller commu-nity.

Quasi-judicial tribunal
Mediation
Investigating complaints
Giving binding and en-forceable
decisions

Italy Commission for Integration
Policies 3 (Commissione per le
Politiche di Integrazione)

Also covers integration, not just discrimination.
The grounds covered are racial and ethnic origin
and religion and belief.

Proposing and com-menting
on legislative
initiatives
Luxem-bourg Special Commission against
Racial Discrimination (Com-mission
spéciale contre la dis-crimination
raciale, CSP-RAC)

Race and ethnicity. Giving proposals and
policy advice to political
decision-makers
Campaigns and training
The
Nether-
lands

Equal Treatment Commis-
sion * (Commissie gelijke
behandeling)

Religion, personal convictions and views, politi-
cal orientation, race, gender, nationality, sexual
preference, marital status, extent of employment
(full-time versus part-time work).
The Commission does not yet cover age and
but legislation is in preparation.

Training
Counselling
Investigating complaints
Hearings
The Commission pro-disability,
vides decisions, opinions
and recommendations,
although they are not
legally binding

3 The Italian Commission is currently not in function, as the Italian Govern-ment
has not reappointed Commissioners after the first three-year period ran out in July 2001. 33
33 Page 34 35

28 Report on the role, structure and functioning of specialised bodies to promote equality and/ or combat discrimination – Final Report
Expertise Centre Age and So-ciety
(Expertisecentrum
Leeftijd en Maatschappij,
LBL)

Age (including gender and ethnicity-related as-pects
of age).
Training material
Informal policy advisory
role
Stimulating research ac-tivities

National Bureau against Racial
Discrimination (Landelijk Bu-reau
ter bestrijding van Ras-sendiscriminatie,
LBR)

Race and ethnicity. Training
Advice
Research and studies
Policy advisory role
Reviewing legislation
Portugal Commission for Equality

and Against Racial Dis-crimination 4
(Comissão
para a Igualdade e contra a
Discriminação Racial)

Race, colour, ethnicity and origin. Recommendations for
adoption of legal meas-ures

Conducting investigations

Disability Ombudsman
(Handikappombudsman-
nen, HO)

Physical or mental disability. Reviewing legislation
Campaigns and training
Telephone counselling
Reconciliation
Predominantly labour-related
competences
Ombudsman against dis-
crimination because of sex-
ual orientation *
budsmannen mot
diskriminering på grund av
sexuell läggning, HomO)

Sexual orientation. Reviewing legislation
Campaigns and training
(Om-Telephone counselling Investigations

Reconciliation
Predominantly labour-related
competences

Sweden

The Ombudsman against eth-
nic discrimination (Ombuds-
mannen mot etnisk discrimina-
tion, DO)

Race, ethnicity and religion. Reviewing legislation
Campaigns and training
Telephone counselling
Investigations
Reconciliation
Predominantly labour-related
competences
Finland The Ombudsman for Minori-
ties
Racial and ethnic origin.
The Minority Ombudsman is consulted in asy-
lum-seeker cases and in cases of expulsion.

Statutory right to make
proposals
Consulted in asylum-seeker
and expulsion
cases. Legal advice
Juridical assistance

4 The Portuguese Commission currently does not have a chairman since
April 2002, as the incoming government had not appointed a High Com-missioner. 34
34 Page 35 36
29 Report on the role, structure and functioning of specialised bodies to promote equality and/ or combat discrimination – Final Report
Commission for Racial Equal-ity
(CRE)
Race. Policy advisory role on
Race Relations Act
Training materials
Campaigns
Advice
Formal Investigations
Legal representation
Disability Rights Commission
(DRC)
Disability. A broad definition which also covers
sensory disability and learning difficulties.
Advice to government on
disability legislation
Campaigns
Training
Advice
Assistance in court cases
Conciliation services
Formal investigations

UK

Equality Commission for
Northern Ireland
Political opinion, religious belief, race/ ethnicity,
disability, gender, and marital status.
Formal consultative
status
Public education cam-paigns

Training and capacity
building
Advice
Formal investigations and
non-discrimination no-tices

Support in legal cases

The type and development of national institutions for combating dis-crimination
and promoting equality seem to some extent to be defined
by the institutional culture and traditions of the country in question.
For instance in Sweden, the Office of the Equal Opportunities Om-budsman
was established in 1980. The Ombudsman against ethnic
discrimination followed in 1986, the disability ombudsman in 1994,
and the HomO in 1999. The establishment of institutions for new
grounds of discrimination was evidently were based on the existing
types of institution. In the British and Irish contexts there seems to be
a tendency towards Commissions or Authorities, whereas countries
like France, Italy and Luxembourg have established special working
groups or commissions which are closely involved in the process or
guidance of government. 35
35 Page 36 37
30 Report on the role, structure and functioning of specialised bodies to promote equality and/ or combat discrimination – Final Report
Ireland also has a specialist equality tribunal (ODEI) to investigate
and/ or mediate complaints of discrimination.

2.3. Guiding principles for independent institutions
As mentioned earlier, the EU Directive 2000/ 43/ EC outlines the aims
and tasks of the bodies for the promotion of equal treatment as:

giving independent assistance to the victims of discrimination,

conducting surveys and studies, and

publishing reports and recommendations.

The requirements of the Directive concerning the specialised bodies
are thus in line with the recommendations made by the European
Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) under the Coun-cil
of Europe.

In its general policy recommendation N o 2, adopted in June 1997, the
ECRI proposed the establishment of specialised bodies to combat
racism, xenophobia, anti-Semitism and intolerance at national level (if
such a body did not already exist) to the governments of the Member
States of the Council of Europe.

In the appendix of the policy recommendation, the ECRI specified
that the specialised bodies should be given terms of reference which
were clearly specified in a constitutional or other legislative document,
and that specialised bodies should ensure they operated in a way
which was clearly politically independent.

In addition, the ECRI advised that the specialised bodies should
adopt as many as possible of the following functions and responsibili-ties:

a. to work towards the elimination of the various forms of dis-crimination
and to promote equality of opportunity and good
relations between persons belonging to all the groups in soci-ety; 36
36 Page 37 38
31 Report on the role, structure and functioning of specialised bodies to promote equality and/ or combat discrimination – Final Report
b. to monitor the content and effect of legislation and execu-tive
acts with respect to their relevance to the aim of combat-ing
racism, xenophobia, anti-Semitism and intolerance, and if
necessary to make proposals for possible modifications to
such legislation;
c. to advise the legislative and executive authorities with a
view to improving regulations and practice in the relevant
fields;
d. to provide aid and assistance to victims, including legal aid,
in order to secure their rights before institutions and the
courts;
e. subject to the legal framework of the country concerned, to
have recourse to the courts or other judicial authorities as ap-propriate
and if and when necessary;
f. to hear and consider complaints and petitions concerning
specific cases and to seek settlements either through amica-ble
conciliation or, within the limits prescribed by the law,
through binding and enforceable decisions;
g. to have appropriate powers to obtain evidence and infor-mation
in pursuance of its functions under f. above;
h. to provide information and advice to relevant bodies and in-stitutions,
including State bodies and institutions;
i. to issue advice on standards of anti-discriminatory practice
in specific areas which might either have the force of law or be
voluntary in their application;
j. to promote and contribute to the training of certain key
groups without prejudice to the primary training role of the
professional organisations involved;
k. to promote the awareness of the general public to issues of
discrimination, and to produce and publish pertinent informa-tion
and documents;
l. to support and encourage organisations with similar objec-tives
to those of the specialised body;
m. to take account of and reflect as appropriate the concerns
of such organisations. 37
37 Page 38 39
32 Report on the role, structure and functioning of specialised bodies to promote equality and/ or combat discrimination – Final Report
In its policy recommendation, the ECRI refers to the fundamental
principles laid down at the first International Meeting of the National
Institutions for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights held in
Paris during 7-9 October 1991 (known as the "Paris Principles");

The Paris Principles set out the following minimum set of standards
for the advisory role of national human rights commissions:

Independence guaranteed by a constitutional or legislative
text

Autonomy from government

Pluralism, including pluralism of composition

A broad mandate

Adequate powers of investigation

Sufficient resources

The principles emphasize that the national institutions should assist in
creating public awareness concerning all forms of discrimination
through education, teaching, publication and information, especially
racial discrimination.

As can be seen, the principles guiding the bodies defined by the Di-rective
2002/ 43/ EC match those set out by the ECRI and the Paris
Principles, although the functions and responsibilities of the bodies
established by the Directive are not given as detailed treatment as in
the ECRI policy recommendation.

2.4. Guide to the report
The report is structured around the following themes:

Legal status, structure and resources of the specialised bod-ies

Horizontal integration and grounds of discrimination covered

Role and functioning in relation to the direct victims of dis-crimination

Role and functioning in the political process 38
38 Page 39 40
33 Report on the role, structure and functioning of specialised bodies to promote equality and/ or combat discrimination – Final Report

Role and functioning in compiling and disseminating informa-tion,
conducting research and awareness-building, including
co-operating with other organisations and civil society.

The report endeavours to present the procedures, practices and ex-periences,
which relate to the various themes. Since the five case
studies have generated considerable in-depth knowledge of the in-stitutions
and of the strengths and weaknesses of their institutional
set-ups and practices, they comprise a substantial element of the re-port.

Particular or illustrative examples of activities, structures, procedures
or experiences are presented in text boxes. 39
39 Page 40 41
34 Report on the role, structure and functioning of specialised bodies to promote equality and/ or combat discrimination – Final Report
3. Legal status, structure, resources and independence
of the specialised bodies

In this section we outline the possible approaches towards the formal
organisation of the work to combat discrimination and/ or promote
equality, and their respective strengths and weaknesses. The focus
will be on the legal basis of the institutions, their internal structures
and their resources.

3.1. Legal basis and governance
Different legal approaches have been adopted for the establishment
of the organisations surveyed. In most cases, the legal basis gives
the institution a clear mandate and provides a framework for its scope
of work and activities.

3.1.1. Legal basis
The majority of the institutions included in the study are established
by legislation passed by the national parliament. The scope of the
legislation varies. Thus some institutions are founded as one element
in a broader sweep of legislation addressing equal treatment, race
relations or employment equality, while others are regulated by laws
adopted specifically to define the institution, as in the case of the
Swedish Ombudsmen institutions and the Belgian CECLR. The Italian
Commission for Integration Policies is established by the national
immigration laws. A limited number of institutions have their legal ba-sis
in secondary legislation, for example in ministerial decrees or ad-ministrative
orders. This is the case for the departmentally based
French CODACs. A few institutions – the Dutch National Bureau
against Racial Discrimination (LBR), the Dutch Expertise Centre Age
and Society (LBL), and the Danish Advisory and Documentation
Centre on Racial Discrimination (DRC-DK) – are non-governmental
organisations, and are therefore not established by national legisla-tion. 40
40 Page 41 42
35 Report on the role, structure and functioning of specialised bodies to promote equality and/ or combat discrimination – Final Report
A body's legal basis may have implications for its relative independ-ence.
With a firm legal basis for an institution in the form of a national
act, it is more difficult for a government to alter its scope and man-date.
Alterations in such cases will typically require parliamentary ne-gotiations
and the adoption of new legislation. Thus in situations
where an institution acts or makes statements in a manner which
conflicts with the government of the day, a firm legal basis may serve
to counteract any intent of swift political interference and thereby
lessen the possibility of political influence on the body in question. On
the other hand, a body, which is established by secondary legislation
may be more prone to alterations in mandate and scope, since the
secondary legislation can be modified without involving the parlia-ment.

This study demonstrates that most of the institutions are guaranteed
independence by means of a national law.

While the independence of the specialised body to promote equality
may be best secured by law, this obviously will not protect the body if
a parliamentary majority decides that it must be modified or removed.

Governmental decisions on the funding of the body may also have
direct practical implications on the actual ability of an institution to im-plement
its legal mandate. For a further discussion on this aspect,
please refer to Chapter 4.3 below.

Though direct interference in the work of the institutions is seldom
observed, institutional independence can be relative, such as when a
government applies indirect pressure to it. As an example, one of the
Dutch institutions referred to comments received from the Govern-ment
questioning whether its choice of cases to present in its annual
report did not suggest particular political associations. Though the
institution in question rejected this notion, the example demonstrates
how institutions might be exposed to indirect political interference. 41
41 Page 42 43
36 Report on the role, structure and functioning of specialised bodies to promote equality and/ or combat discrimination – Final Report
3.1.2. Mandate, objectives and tasks
In most cases, the mandate and duties of the specialised body are
defined in the law, which comprises the legal basis for the institution.

The mandates of the organisations surveyed vary, as can be seen in
the institutional profiles compiled as part of this study and in the
summary descriptions given in the figure in Chapter 1.

Duties defined by law
The duties of the British Disability Rights Commission (DRC) are defined as
follows in the Disability Rights Commission Act of 1999, Chapter 2:

to work towards the elimination of discrimination against disabled
people;

to promote the equalisation of opportunities for disabled people;

to take such steps as it considers appropriate with a view to encour-aging
good practice in the treatment of disabled people; and

to keep under review the working of the Disability Discrimination Act
1995 and the Disability Rights Commission Act 1999.

The clarity of the description of the mandate, instruments and powers
of an institution is obviously also a means of ensuring that in the
event of potential conflict with a particular government, the institution
will be guaranteed freedom from the discrediting of its activities and
will not be limited through administrative interventions. Thus in Swe-den
legislation governs the work of the Ombudsman against Dis-crimination
because of Sexual Orientation in the workplace and
higher education fields, whereas anti-discrimination work in other ar-eas
of society is governed by decree. While the laws provide the Om-budsman
with certain formal legal powers with respect to discrimina-tion
in the workplace and in education, the decree does not furnish
the same powers. Because the government could amend the decree
if it wished, according to the Ombudsman it is a less useful tool for
long-term anti-discrimination work. 42
42 Page 43 44
37 Report on the role, structure and functioning of specialised bodies to promote equality and/ or combat discrimination – Final Report
In a number of the institutions the work is governed by more than one
legislative instrument, providing differing tools and options depending
on the area of discrimination in question.

A disjointed legal foundation of this kind may pose problems regard-ing:
 Transparency of legal rights
 Dissimilar treatment in similar cases of discrimination, de-pending

on the different legal grounds and instruments ap-plied

Anti-discrimination work governed by several laws
In Sweden, several laws govern the work of the various Ombudsman institu-tions.
For example, there are laws on discrimination in the workplace, in
higher education etc. Because the disparate laws present the Ombudsmen
with such a fragmented legislative framework for dealing with the various
forms of discrimination, two people in essentially the same situation who
were confronted with similar discrimination under two different headings
might have different access to help in obtaining equal treatment.

The Swedish Ombudsman against Discrimination because of Sexual Orien-tation
illustrates this point with two hypothetical trainees in the same com-pany
who are being discriminated against because of their sexual orienta-tion.
The training of one of them is a part of his higher education, whereas
the other is not receiving higher education. As the Ombudsman has certain
formal legal powers (legal procedures, award of damages etc.) that only re-late
to sexual-orientation discrimination in the work place and higher educa-tion,
and not to discrimination in other fields of society, the first trainee would
to a greater degree be protected against harassment or discrimination be-cause
of his or her sexual orientation, than would the latter.

The problems related to the existence of different legal bases could
lead to a discussion of the potential of integrating legislation on equal
treatment. This question is discussed in Chapter 5, which deals with
horizontal approaches to discrimination. 43
43 Page 44 45
38 Report on the role, structure and functioning of specialised bodies to promote equality and/ or combat discrimination – Final Report
The question of whether the anti-discrimination institutions should be
accountable to the government or to the parliament has been specifi-cally
debated in Sweden. The current Swedish status quo is a sort of
gentlemen's agreement that the Ombudsmen should be independent,
but their independence is not actually guaranteed by legislation. It has
therefore been an ongoing discussion topic as to whether they should
report to the parliament rather than the government in order to ensure
greater independence. On the one hand, accountability to Parliament
may be a better guarantee of the independence of the institutions. On
the other hand, some members of Parliament may also represent
specific interests and make it difficult for the institutions to manoeuvre
freely. The conclusion that appears to emerge is that independence
needs to be guaranteed by the legislative underpinning of the institu-tion
in question.

3.1.3. Criteria for the composition of the board
The appointment of the Board also touches upon issues of independ-ence,
as well as those of continuity and effective authority.

The board of an independent body is the guarantor of the pursuit of
the objectives and tasks set out for the institution. It must undertake
its activities and make its assessments in an independent manner.
That is to say, it must be independent both towards the state authori-ties
and other interests, and must consistently act in accordance with
the mandate of the institution.

Independence and the role of government
The Commission for Equality and Against Racial Discrimination, which was
recently established in Portugal, demonstrates an interesting contradiction in
terms of the independence it enjoys. While on the one hand the law adopted
by Parliament establishes the Commission for Equality and Against Racial
Discrimination as an independent body, the same law states that the High
Commissioner for Immigrants and Ethnic Minorities shall be its chair. The
High Commissioner, who covers and co-ordinates a broad range of initiatives
concerning minorities, is appointed by the prime minister, has the rank of a
vice-secretary of state, and is subject to the authority of the Presidency of the
Council of Ministers. 44
44 Page 45 46
39 Report on the role, structure and functioning of specialised bodies to promote equality and/ or combat discrimination – Final Report
A number of different models exist for the appointment of the board
even among the five institutions included in the study. It is broadly
possible to distinguish between two models:

 On the one hand, bodies where the board is constituted of
representatives of named institutions, whether these are min-istries,
social partner organisations, NGOs or political parties.
The Dutch National Bureau against Racial Discrimination
(LBR) also includes a member of the Board appointed by the
staff.

 On the other hand, boards made up of individuals who have
been selected purely on the basis of merit, typically following a
procedure which involves publicly advertising for candidates
who meet stated selection criteria, and succeeded by short-listing
and interviews.

A prime difference between the two models is that the first aims to
ensure that all relevant parties are heard and represented in the in-stitution
in question, thus to some extent underscoring the pluralist
approach of the Paris Principles for ensuring the representation of
civil society. The latter model has greater focus on the individual pos-session
of the necessary integrity and qualification for dealing with
cases of discrimination.

The first approach stresses the network perspective, and often -so it
seems -a desire to ensure that relevant interests are given a voice on
the board; that is, to ensure that the board takes appropriately into
account the opinions of the various stakeholder groups who are par-ticularly
concerned with questions of discrimination and equal treat-ment.

The advantages of having a politically-appointed board
One institution, the Belgian Centre for Equal Opportunities and the Fight
Against Racism (CECLR), specifically pointed to the advantages of having a
board where some of the members are politically appointed. Having a broad
political representation on the board means that the Centre reflects society 45
45 Page 46 47
40 Report on the role, structure and functioning of specialised bodies to promote equality and/ or combat discrimination – Final Report
at large to a greater extent, i. e. the politically-appointed board members rep-resent
the general electorate, something that its discussions mirror. By in-cluding
political appointees on the board, an institution may also ensure
better information-sharing with the political decision-making level, and thus
create a greater understanding among politicians as to the work, results and
ambitions of the specialised body. Depending on the rank of the political ap-pointees,
the anti-discrimination institution may utilise this individual contact
as a starting point for gaining access to political decision-makers. In the case
of CECLR, this has allowed the Centre to follow the political decision-making
processes from the very outset and to ensure that CECLR recommendations
were taken into consideration. Finally, it was suggested that by including
different political groups in the institutional set-up (either in relation to the
Centre itself or to the issues promoted by the Centre), a greater degree of
common understanding and respect for the work carried out by CECLR had
been achieved.

A crucial issue with this first type of board is to avoid the board mem-bers
only representing their particular narrow interest, and encourag-ing
them instead to identify with the overall interests of the institution
they are entrusted to govern. For this reason, for instance, the board
of the Irish Equality Authority (EA) has been carefully instructed by its
chairman that they solely represent the EA when on the Board.

Finally, in organisations where the board is made up of representa-tives
of named institutions, a clear-cut division of labour between the
Board, the Chair and the Chief Executive seems to be of particular
importance to the functioning of the institution.

The second approach, where individuals apply and are selected
based on merit, seeks to overcome the potential criticism of being
representative of certain interests. The approach which is used in the
British CRE and the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland,
among others, may also be more competitive, in the sense that the
reposting of vacant board positions in the press opens up an oppor-tunity
for anybody to be appointed, not just the representatives of a
named group of organisations and institutions. In this respect it may
be a more dynamic model. On the other hand, a risk of political inter-ference
persists if the government chooses to set very prescriptive
criteria for board member selection 46
46 Page 47 48
41 Report on the role, structure and functioning of specialised bodies to promote equality and/ or combat discrimination – Final Report
The perceived legitimacy and moral authority of the board members
is often of particular importance. It can be argued that the board that
opposes a given Government policy can have little effect, as in most
cases it does not have the formal power to influence the Govern-ment.
In practice, the political influence of an independent body is
therefore likely to be strongly dependent on the skills and reputation
of its key representatives – typically on those of the board and the
chief executive.

The Belgian CECLR notes that it is important that the chief executive
of the institution is perceived as having high personal integrity and
that he or she exudes a general atmosphere of openness. Otherwise
the executive – and along with them the institution – may be per-ceived
as dogmatic and biased, which would eventually hamper the
work of the institution.

The Berlin Commissioner emphasises that due to the fact of being the
public face of her institution for the last 20 years, her continuity has
given the Commissioner's role very strong political influence, even if
the institution's formal position is fairly weak.

The Swedish Ombudsman against Discrimination because of Sexual
Orientation who was, in his own opinion, chosen for the position be-cause
of the credibility established through his judicial background in
conjunction with his involvement in a Swedish organisation repre-senting
the interests of homosexuals.

The composition of the Board sometimes takes account of informal
factors. When the first Equal Treatment Commission in the Nether-lands
was set up, equal representation with regard to different relig-ious
communities, ethnic background and genders etc. was sought,
although this was not a criterion stipulated in the law establishing the
Commission. 47
47 Page 48 49
42 Report on the role, structure and functioning of specialised bodies to promote equality and/ or combat discrimination – Final Report
3.1.4. Service terms for members of the board
As a precaution to ensure the independence of the board, in many
cases a clause in the law stipulates that the mandate of the members
of the board cannot be withdrawn, or only under specified extraordi-nary
circumstances. Typically, board members serve a term of four to
six years, with some serving a two-or three-year term. Obviously, the
intention is to ensure that a board, which issues opinions in conflict
with those of the political majority currently in power cannot be dis-missed
arbitrarily by that same majority group.

Some of the bodies have established a rota whereby half the board
members are up for appointment halfway through each service term,
in order to ensure continuity in the institution's work.

Continuity and transfer of knowledge
There is a turnover of half of the members at the Dutch Equal Treatment
Commission every third year in order to secure the continuity of its work. But
according to the Commission, there is still scope for enhancing knowledge
sharing for the purpose of retaining institutional memory when staff or com-missioners
leave the Commission. Some commissioners suggest an im-proved
transfer of procedures and knowledge, for instance by allowing new
commissioners to participate in hearings as observers to begin with, in order
to learn from their more experienced colleagues.

In some institutions the government can dismiss the commissioner /
chief executive / chairperson. However, it appears to be difficult for a
government to dismiss a commissioner who has acquired a positive
reputation, even if the government's views differ from the commis-sioner's.
The length of stay in office is therefore fairly dependent on
the individual in that office. The study includes examples of situations
where an individual has played a central role in the political struggles
surrounding the creation and setting-up of an institution. Swedish and
German examples each indicate that individual credibility and influ-ence
can affect both the extent of an institution's power and the size
of its budget (see above).

Non-political interference in the executive
Some legislators have ensured that not only the board but also the execu- 48
48 Page 49 50
43 Report on the role, structure and functioning of specialised bodies to promote equality and/ or combat discrimination – Final Report
tive is protected from political interference. In the case of the Belgian Cen-tre
for Equal Opportunities and the Fight Against Racism (CECLR), not only
the board, but also the key staff members, namely the Director, the Deputy
Director and four so-called co-ordinators are employed for six years, during
which they cannot be dismissed. This reflects the strong role of the Direc-tor,
whose competences include the right to undertake activities in situa-tions
which are judged to be urgent and which would usually require the
consent of the management board, and only to consult with the board af-terwards.

3.1.5. Advisory groups
Some of the institutions in question have advisory groups or other in-dependent
reference groups attached. These are sometimes intro-duced
to ensure the independence of particular studies or as more
permanent "quality assurers". For instance, the French GELD, whose
board is 51% composed of representatives of public bodies, has set
up a separate board (' conseil d'orientation') to oversee the research
activities of the institution, thus seeking to ensure independence in
this aspect of its work.

The Dutch National Bureau against Racial Discrimination has an ad-visory
board composed of 15 persons with contacts and knowledge
regarding specific questions. In this case, and in the case of the Irish
Equality Authority (EA), a prime function is to provide expert knowl-edge
on specific themes as well as continuous updating concerning
new and relevant trends and general developments in society.

Other advisory bodies act as auxiliary bodies to the institution in
question. Their focus is to co-ordinate the main institution's work with
other organisations, including helping to integrate the aims and ob-jectives
of the institution more generally into the administration, so as
to mainstream the work on equal treatment.

These advisory groups are often set up on an ad hoc basis and under
less formal criteria than the boards, for instance being appointed by
the management. Often the existing members of the advisory bodies
reappoint new members when others leave. 49
49 Page 50 51
44 Report on the role, structure and functioning of specialised bodies to promote equality and/ or combat discrimination – Final Report
The institutions face a challenge in constructing the advisory bodies
in a balanced manner, so that they are not too closely aligned to spe-cific
interests. In this regard there has to be a balance between inde-pendence
and close co-operation with other organisations. It is im-portant
not to form alliances that signal specific interests, and not to
be too closely associated with specific NGOs, for instance. On the
other hand, as previously discussed, it can be helpful to have specific
representatives in the body to signal that it is an authority in its field.

3.1.6. Summary of key points – legal basis and governance
 Independence of the institutions is best guaranteed by legisla-tion

clearly defining mandate, scope and powers. 
Boards can either be composed of representatives of specific
institutions or of individuals who have been selected purely on
the basis of their merit. The former is seen to assure the rep-resentation
of various groups and closer links with the political
decision-making structures, whereas the latter might be seen
as more dynamic and having higher integrity, although there
may in this case also be a certain risk of political interference. 
To ensure independence, members of boards are often given
a fixed-term mandate of typically four to six years that cannot
be withdrawn. 
In order to ensure continuity, some bodies have chosen to in-stitute
a half-term turnover of half the members of the board. 
Management and the executive can also be guaranteed fixed
terms in office in order to ensure their independence.

3.2. Institutional structures
In terms of their internal organisation, the organisations appear to
have very different structures and cultures, with organic, loosely
structured organisations at one extreme, and highly-tuned manage-ment
based organisations with mission statements, corporate plans,
performance indicators and monitoring procedures at the other. As
organisations are dynamic, the organisation and structure of the in-stitutions
may vary according to changing tasks and responsibilities. 50
50 Page 51 52
45 Report on the role, structure and functioning of specialised bodies to promote equality and/ or combat discrimination – Final Report
3.2.1. Internal division of tasks
The internal division of tasks varies according to the size of the insti-tution
in question. The smaller institutions with fewer than ten mem-bers
of staff often have a unitary structure and fewer boundaries be-tween
areas of work and responsibilities, e. g. the Expertise Centre on
Age and Society in the Netherlands (LBL), the Ombudsman against
Discrimination because of Sexual Orientation in Sweden, and the
Danish Board for Ethnic Equality and the Advisory and Documenta-tion
Centre on Racial Discrimination.

In bigger institutions like the Equal Treatment Commission in the
Netherlands, the Commission for Racial Equality in UK or the Swed-ish
Ombudsman against Ethnic Discrimination, the need for speciali-sation
and formal organisation has often meant a more formal division
into departments and areas of responsibility.

In quite a number of the institutions the tasks are divided and organ-ised
according to the laws and instruments regulating its work. For
instance, the larger Swedish institutions, e. g. the Ombudsman
against Ethnic Discrimination and the Disability Ombudsman, have
one department concerned with discrimination in the labour market
and one concerned with discrimination in other areas of society, be-cause
different laws and decrees apply to its work within these two
areas. Such separations therefore reflect the legal instruments avail-able
– e. g. where it is possible to bring cases relating to the labour
market before the labour court, whereas discrimination regarding
other areas of society cannot be brought to court by the institution in
question. Other divisions, like information or training divisions, may
supplement those which relate to different areas of society.

In institutions such as the Dutch National Bureau against Racial Dis-crimination
(LBR) the work is organised into teams. The LBR has es-tablished
working groups that combine competences, such as those
of lawyers and political or social scientists. By organising its work
among groups instead of along departmental lines, the LBR seeks to 51
51 Page 52 53
46 Report on the role, structure and functioning of specialised bodies to promote equality and/ or combat discrimination – Final Report
encourage knowledge sharing and to avoid staff only considering
their own areas of competence.

The Equality Authority in Ireland (EA) has integrated nine grounds of
discrimination, organising its work by function rather than according to
the field of discrimination. The main purpose of such a structure is to
ensure learning and knowledge sharing concerning the various fields
of discrimination. The potential weakness is a lack of specialisation
and the risk of duplicating work. But the management believes that
the benefits from applying the knowledge of one ground to the other
grounds compensates for that risk.
The ODEI has integrated the work of its "judges" (Equality Officers),
in its role as a quasi-judicial body, across all nine grounds of discrimi-nation.

Equally, other institutions working with more grounds of discrimination
have changed their internal organisation in order to secure the trans-fer
of knowledge from one case to another and between the various
grounds of discrimination, as is illustrated below.

The Dutch Equal Treatment Commission was previously divided into
three chambers. The first of the chambers worked with gender dis-crimination
and discrimination on the basis of working hours, the sec-ond
with race and nationality, and the third with other grounds of dis-crimination
(religion, personal beliefs, convictions, sexual orientation,
and marital status). Then it was decided to let all 9 commissioners
and 13 juridical advisors work with all types of cases. Firstly, this en-hanced
flexibility, and in addition it was considered illogical to sepa-rate
the various grounds of discrimination, since the Commission has
been seeing an increasing number of cases where more than one
ground of discrimination is involved, either because the complaints
brought to the Commission have contained more than one ground of
discrimination, or because whereas the complainant claims sexual
discrimination, for instance, the respondent's defence is based on a
difference of treatment based on religion. Also, in this new institu-tional
setting each commissioner will be working in a fixed partnership
with the same two legal advisors in all investigations. Which commis- 52
52 Page 53 54
47 Report on the role, structure and functioning of specialised bodies to promote equality and/ or combat discrimination – Final Report
sioners worked with which members of staff used to depend on
chance, but as the Dutch Equal Treatment Commission has been
making staff and commissioners co-operate on a regular basis, so
they have come to know each other and their respective working
methods better, and the result has been a more efficient handling of
cases. The Commissioners and staff have also found that the move
from having three chambers to combining the work has given it more
variety. The new organisation of work has made it easier to compare
one case with another, and has thereby increased the extent of
learning from cases across all grounds of discrimination. Although in
theory the commissioners and the juridical advisors can be involved
in any sort of case, in practice the staff and the commissioners still
have specific knowledge and preferences which are considered when
they are assigned to cases.

3.2.2. Staff and competences required
The institutions vary in size from just four members to a staff of 200
employees. In most institutions, the staff are usually composed of
academics, legal experts, policy experts, technical staff and clerical
workers.

Examples of staffing
Commission for Racial Equality, UK
The 15 Commissioners guide the work of approximately 200 staff based at
offices in London, Birmingham, Leeds, Manchester, Edinburgh and Cardiff.
Approximately 100 staff members are based in the central office, working in:
-the legal directorate with circa 20-25 employees,
-corporate services, including HRM, IT and Finance with circa 30,
-the policy and communication department with about 50,
-and finally the office of the Chief Executive Officer.

The regional offices of the CRE broadly reflect the division in the central of-fice,
but with some variations.

Equal Treatment Commission, Netherlands
The Commission has 36 staff in its office:
-Director 53
53 Page 54 55
48 Report on the role, structure and functioning of specialised bodies to promote equality and/ or combat discrimination – Final Report
-13 juridical advisors
-1 co-ordinator of judicial staff
-9 secretaries
-2 PR officers
-2 policy officers
-1 documentation expert
-1 job assessment specialist (who investigates cases of unequal pay)
-2 personnel officers
-1 helpdesk expert
-3 investigation assistants

Ombudsman against Discrimination because of Sexual Orientation,
Sweden
The Ombudsman has a staff of four:
-Ombudsman
-Lawyer
-Director of education
-Director of information

Legal skills
The proportion of staff with a juridical background depends on the
role of the institution and the emphasis placed on such things as in-formation
and training, addressing the structural aspects of discrimi-nation,
and awareness raising. As can be expected, in institutions
which focus on aspects of training and awareness raising as well as
on the dissemination of information, the number of people with a legal
background is relatively lower than in institutions working to resolve
cases or providing legal advice.

Where the staff or commissioners are supposed to present an opinion
or a verdict in cases concerning discrimination, the preferred compe-tences
diverge. Where some institutions mainly employ staff with a
legal background, others prefer to employ non-lawyers. The Office of
the Director of Equality Investigations (ODEI) in Ireland is staffed by
13 Equality Officers and Equality Mediation Officers. Only a few of the
officers have a legal background, but they all have extensive experi-ence
as civil servants in the drafting and interpretation of legislation
and they have also undergone substantial specialist training in dis- 54
54 Page 55 56
49 Report on the role, structure and functioning of specialised bodies to promote equality and/ or combat discrimination – Final Report
crimination law. There is also a specialised in-house Legal Adviser
available to the Equality Officers. By contrast, all Commissioners in
the Dutch Equal Treatment Commission have expertise in anti-discrimination
law and equality policies.

Communication and mediation skills
As discussed below, a number of the institutions focus on developing
competences in mediation and communication tools.

Most of the institutions prioritise the availability of information units or
information workers, because an important part of their work is to
communicate knowledge, and to do it proactively. The competences
required vary according to the specific aims and tasks of the institu-tions.
Emphasis is often placed on finding staff with previous experi-ence
in the field of anti-discrimination work who have good contacts
with relevant institutions which they will bring with them. Especially in
institutions working with awareness-building and information work, the
staff is often composed of people with knowledge of the area who
have well-developed networks.

Some institutions make premises available to other related organisa-tions,
e. g. the Swedish Disability Ombudsman houses the National
Centre for Accessibility. Whereas the staff of the Ombudsman is
composed of lawyers, the National Centre for Accessibility brings ar-chitects
and social scientists into the building, among others, thereby
bringing new perspectives into the work of the Ombudsman.

External resources
Another way of bringing new competences into the organisation is by
hiring staff on short-term contracts or by involving external resources
in specific cases, such as by co-operating with universities and re-search
institutions in connection with surveys, analyses and reports.
External staff are also frequently involved in relation to ICT issues,
evaluations and internal staff training. A final category of external staff
is the legal experts who are often used to bring cases to court. 55
55 Page 56 57
50 Report on the role, structure and functioning of specialised bodies to promote equality and/ or combat discrimination – Final Report
3.2.3. Working approaches
One of the study's findings is that building up new institutions or
merging existing ones takes time, and that a bedding-in period is re-quired
to establish the specific working approach. This is the experi-ence
of the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland, which has
been through a difficult but successful process of merging four institu-tions
into one. This entailed many considerations and reviews of the
appropriate internal organisation, where in order to cater for the con-cerns
voiced by each of the four constituent organisations, during an
extended period which lasted until March 2002 disability issues were
organised in a separate department from the remainder of the organi-sation,
which was structured according to the principle of the hori-zontal
integration of equality issues.

For the Equality Authority south of the border in the Republic of Ire-land,
the point of departure was different, but also here the first years
have been used in order to make adaptations, leading to a discus-sions
of working approaches among other matters.
Working approach – three ways of approaching the field of discrimina-tion
in the Irish Equality Authority (EA)

Ground-specific approach, taking up themes and cases concerning a
single ground of discrimination where there is a special need for at-tention.
An example is the week-long campaign to promote an anti-racist
workplace.

Theme-based approach, where a theme or an area covering the 9

grounds is investigated. An example is the educational sector, where
experts have looked into the 9 grounds of discrimination from three
perspectives:

o As a service provider, how do you provide education for all without discriminating?

o How do you teach equality? o What criteria do you employ when hiring teachers?

Multiple-identities and multi-ground approach, where the basic ap-proach
is that people have multiple identities which may be linked to
more than one ground of discrimination. The EA has, for example,
held a seminar where it brought disabled people together with groups
representing the gay and lesbian communities.
All three approaches are considered relevant. The combination of the three
approaches allows the EA to achieve extensive penetration in the field of dis- 56
56 Page 57 58
51 Report on the role, structure and functioning of specialised bodies to promote equality and/ or combat discrimination – Final Report
crimination.
3.2.4. Sharing facilities between institutions
Some institutions share facilities. The Swedish Ombudsman against
Discrimination because of Sexual Orientation is located together with
the Swedish Ombudsman against Ethnic Discrimination. The former
acquires services from the latter regarding administrative issues, and
they share a telephone and data network. They consider this very
positive, pointing to the improved exchange of experience and knowl-edge
and the cost-efficiency of having shared resources. The two
Ombudsmen are located on the same floor, and the expectation is
that their co-operation will be further intensified.

The Irish Equality Authority (EA) and the Office of the Director for
Equality Investigations (ODEI) are also located at the same address.
Confusion can arise where the ODEI has sometimes been seen as
the Investigation Section of the EA or where the EA is wrongly per-ceived
as prosecutor and judge. The adoption by the IDEI of "ODEI –
the Equality Tribunal" as a day-to-day business name may well help
to resolve this confusion.

3.2.5. Accessibility
The above-mentioned issue of the confusion of institutions also
touches on the question of accessibility. A number of stakeholders
point to accessibility as a major issue for victims of discrimination, i. e.
the ability for victims to make contact with the institution and to know
that it will respond to their questions without delay. 57
57 Page 58 59
52 Report on the role, structure and functioning of specialised bodies to promote equality and/ or combat discrimination – Final Report
The accessibility issues include an institution's physical accessibility,
its image, the language skills possessed by its staff, and people's
confidence that it will handle discrimination cases both promptly and
professionally.

For a victim of discrimination, who may often belong to a marginalized
group in society, the mere step of seeking advice and reporting a dis-criminatory
experience may be a rather daunting task. If they have to
overcome great obstacles to reach the anti-discrimination body, it is
likely that the case will never be reported and registered.

The majority of the bodies included in the study are national institu-tions,
but some are regional. The German Commissioner for Foreign-ers'
Affairs of the Berlin Senate is such a regional institution. Likewise
the French CODACs work at a regional level; there are 100 CODACs
distributed among 22 regions.

Only a few of the national bodies have regional branches, such as the
British Commission for Racial Equality, which has offices in six major
cities. The British Disability Rights Commission (DRC) is about to
launch a pilot regional capacity-building initiative with a partner or-ganisation.
This will provide information and advice at the lo-cal/
regional level to supplement what the DRC already does at a na-tional
level to promote the values and campaigns of the DRC, and will
help identify potential legal cases.

In Belgium and the Netherlands a national infrastructure also exists,
although it is formally organised outside the structures of the bodies,
with the local anti-discrimination bureaux being variously-organised
independent institutions which can forward complaints to the Equal
Treatment Commission in the Netherlands and the CECLR in Bel-gium.
The boundaries of the institutions' work are defined with refer-ence
to the activities undertaken by other organisations or institutions.
For instance, in the Netherlands the organisational framework relating
to anti-discrimination includes a Commission for Equal Treatment,
more than 20 regional anti-discrimination agencies, and various or- 58
58 Page 59 60
53 Report on the role, structure and functioning of specialised bodies to promote equality and/ or combat discrimination – Final Report
ganisations with expertise and in-depth knowledge in the specific ar-eas
of discrimination, e. g. ageing and ethnicity.

In addition to the outreach work of its own offices, the British Com-mission
for Racial Equality undertakes close co-operation with the
individual race equality councils.

The Equality Commission in Northern Ireland has an outreach pro-gramme,
visiting citizens' advice bureaux once a month. The Irish
Equality Authority (EA) works with the Citizens Information Service to
distribute leaflets and information material across Ireland. In addition,
the EA is working to set up temporary legal offices once a month to
enable a solicitor from the EA to travel outside of Dublin to advise
people.

Various issues of accessibility
In Belgium, the NGO partners of The Centre for Equal Opportunities and the
Fight Against Racism (CECLR) pointed out that accessibility in the form of a
welcoming environment and premises which are easy to reach are of vital
importance if the victims of discrimination are to approach the institution in
question. One of CECLR's partners, a local NGO, has had good experiences
with making its advisory services available during the evening when the vic-tims
of discrimination are not at work, and therefore have a proper opportu-nity
to approach the NGO and receive personal advice.
In addition, the CECLR itself discovered new accessibility issues when it
started consulting with disability groups as part of the forthcoming broaden-ing
of the CECLR mandate. During a recent conference many practical is-sues
of physical accessibility had to be taken into account – for example
translation services for deaf participants, or premises catering for people in
wheelchairs.

Providing information in several languages is another concern. Two
examples can illustrate this point:
In the offices of the Berlin Commissioner, consultations on legal and
social issues are regularly provided in 12 languages.
The website of the Swedish Ombudsman against Ethnic Discrimina-tion
provides information on discrimination because of ethnic back-ground
– plus relevant legislation – in 17 languages. 59
59 Page 60 61
54 Report on the role, structure and functioning of specialised bodies to promote equality and/ or combat discrimination – Final Report
Once an institution has gained a reputation as being both accessible
and having good contact with its target groups, it may be solicited to
undertake additional assignments well beyond its immediate aims
and objectives, as the box below illustrates.

Image and reputation as a beacon for attracting new assignments
During the recent period when the outbreak of Foot and Mouth Disease in
Britain was a major concern across the EU, the Belgian Centre for Equal
Opportunities and the Fight Against Racism (CECLR) was asked by the
Ministry of Agriculture to establish a telephone helpline to provide health
advice and information to the Muslim community during the holy celebra-tion
of the Eid al-Adha, when large numbers of sheep are slaughtered.
Here it seems that it was the reputation of the organisation that encour-aged
the public authorities to ask for the CECLR's assistance.

3.2.6. Summary of key points -structures
 Staff and competences in the various institutions vary ac-cording

to the aims and priorities of the institutions. 
Some institutions place emphasis on awareness raising and
information work or training, and therefore employ more per-sonnel
with these sorts of competences. 
The work of other institutions is more focused within the juridi-cal
area, and therefore they employ more staff with legal
backgrounds. 
More institutions working with various grounds of discrimina-tion
have started organising their work across these grounds
in order to learn from each other and to be able to integrate
the different grounds of discrimination. The strengths are seen
as overriding the potential weaknesses, such as lack of spe-cialisation
and duplicated work. 
Accessibility is a key concern. This concerns both physical
accessibility, the image of the institution, the language skills
possessed by the institution, and the confidence that an insti-tution
will handle a case of discrimination professionally and
rapidly. 60
60 Page 61 62
55 Report on the role, structure and functioning of specialised bodies to promote equality and/ or combat discrimination – Final Report
3.3. Resources
All the institutions in this study are financed by the state. This is also
the case for the NGOs, who often receive their core funding from
state sources. The majority are granted resources on an annual basis
from the fiscal budget. Some receive financial resources from specific
Ministries or Offices. In addition, a few of the institutions do not have
a separate budget and instead are financially incorporated into the
budget of another institution (as is the case with the Portuguese
Commission), or into the administrative budget of local or regional
government (like the German Commissioner of Foreigners' Affairs of
the Berlin Senate and the French departmental CODAC offices).

Quite a number of institutions find it difficult to meet the expectations
of the public and politicians due to their limited access to resources.
This includes finding it difficult to live up to all the expectations em-bodied
in the laws or statutes underpinning the institution. Therefore
they find that they must prioritise among the different goals set for
their work. For instance, the newly established Finnish Ombudsman
for Minorities has to be consulted in asylum cases. This is quite a
workload, involving 1200 applications per year. With few members of
staff it has so far been difficult for the Ombudsman to invest much
time in the other tasks assigned to him, such as investigating, report-ing
on and making proposals on discrimination based on ethnicity, or
developing the co-operation between the public authorities and those
organisations involved in preventing and combating discrimination.

3.3.1. Financial resources from the state
The immediate advantage for an institution of being financed from the
annual fiscal budget is that a steady and predictable source of income
exists which guarantees its ongoing activities. Of course, that as-sumes
that the allocations are reasonably proportionate to the in-tended
tasks of the organisation. Nevertheless, fluctuations due to
changing political priorities will remain an issue.

A ministry which allocates money to an institution may sometimes be
in a position to influence its activities. For instance, in the case of the 61
61 Page 62 63
56 Report on the role, structure and functioning of specialised bodies to promote equality and/ or combat discrimination – Final Report
British CRE, the organisation must submit a corporate plan to the
Home Office to get funding; in principle, the Home Office could refuse
to fund certain activities if these were considered to be beyond the
remit of the organisation.

A problem may especially arise if the institution is dependent on fi-nancial
resources from several ministries: This often makes it neces-sary
for the institution to meet several sets of standards and expecta-tions
concerning its work. Therefore institutions, which receive funds
from several ministries, may spend time and energy simply on co-ordinating
and meeting all the demands of the various Ministries.

3.3.2. Project grants
Some institutions supplement their state grants with project-based
grants, either from EU social funds such as the EQUAL programme,
or national funds or funds generated specifically for projects within an
area, e. g. lottery funds in Britain for persons with disabilities. But
these are mostly minor resources compared to the state grant. The
project grants are often contracted for specific projects or pro-grammes
which can be additional to the aims and activities defined in
the statutes of the institution.

Some of the private foundations also receive funds from other public
and private sources.

3.3.3. Other sources of support
A few institutions generate financial resources from the sale of re-ports,
posters and T-shirts. This is so in the case of the Dutch Na-tional
Bureau against Racial Discrimination, and the Swedish Om-budsman
against Ethnic Discrimination generates some resources
from the sale of books. Other institutions levy an hourly-based fee to
third parties, which ask for lectures or specific information. For some
institutions a change in the law has been necessary for them to be
able to ask for payment for their services. 62
62 Page 63 64
57 Report on the role, structure and functioning of specialised bodies to promote equality and/ or combat discrimination – Final Report
Some organisations also charge for the provision of training, as in the
case of the CECLR in Belgium, and the Dutch National Bureau
against Racial Discrimination, which has charges for courses and
projects and, for example, a website built for the benefit of schools.

Training as an additional source of income
The customised training courses by the Belgian Centre for Equal Opportuni-ties
and the Fight Against Racism (CECLR) are much in demand, and the
CECLR charges for the individual training provided to organisations and
companies. The training fee does, however, differ depending on whether the
client is from the private or public sector, or belongs to the non-governmental
sector.

Other organisations, e. g. the British CRE, are only allowed cost re-covery,
i. e. to charge cost price for publications etc. Any income is
deducted from the state grant.

More importantly, some organisations may benefit from support in
kind from companies who provide services for free. Some institutions
such as the British CRE and the Belgian CECLR have been quite
successful in this respect.

Support in kind
The CECLR has obtained free benefits from a Belgian television station such
as free radio and TV airtime and the free production of TV spots. Also, as
part of the 1995 European Youth Campaign against racism the CECLR pub-lic
relations department secured a number of free services, such as phone
cards with campaign logos and messages from the telecoms company Bel-gacom,
and free advertising space on buses and in trains, etc.
Another example may be found in the Britain, where the CRE has conducted
several major media campaigns, such as the campaign under the slogan
"Britain – we all make it unique" with posters, postcards, and adverts in
newspapers, cinemas and occasionally on TV. The services were provided
free of charge by the Saatchi & Saatchi advertising agency. The British CRE
has also had events like "Race in the Media" sponsored by newspapers.

Being able to attract such gratis services can present a major oppor-tunity
to institutions involved in providing information, image building
and awareness raising and campaigning. However, to those institu- 63
63 Page 64 65
58 Report on the role, structure and functioning of specialised bodies to promote equality and/ or combat discrimination – Final Report
tions mainly involved in activities related to resolving cases or pro-viding
legal advice, it can be more difficult to find opportunities to
benefit from such free services, even though all institutions consider it
important to publicise their existence and work.

3.3.4. Summary of key points -resources
 Quite a number of institutions find it difficult to meet expecta-tions

due to their limited access to resources. 
The granting of money from the annual fiscal budget is an im-portant
opportunity for planning and continuing activities. 
An institution receiving state funds may potentially be subject
to direct or indirect attempts to influence its work priorities. 
Where several ministries are in charge of the funding it can be
difficult for an institution to meet the diverse expectations. 
Other sources of funding are few, and in all cases the
amounts are small compared with state funding. 64
64 Page 65 66
59 Report on the role, structure and functioning of specialised bodies to promote equality and/ or combat discrimination – Final Report
4. Horizontal approach to discrimination
4.1. Horizontal integration
The implementation of the Racial Equality Directive (2000/ 43/ EC) and
the Employment Equality Directive (2000/ 78/ EC) has accentuated the
debate concerning the integration of the different laws relating to dis-crimination.
The study shows a tendency towards integrating several
grounds of discrimination into an institution's legal basis and the in-stitutional
structure. In the following section we consider the issues
involved.

4.1.1. One coherent legal basis
Several of the Member States have either already been working on
integrating the legal basis for discrimination into one or two coherent
laws or are currently doing so.

An example of a completely integrated approach is the Irish national
equality structure.
A completely horizontal integrated approach – The Office of the Director
of Equality Investigations (ODEI) and the Irish Equality Authority (EA)
The Equal Status Act of 2000 and the Employment Equality Act of 1998 es-tablish
a clear division of labour between the two institutions. While the ODEI
acts as a quasi-judicial impartial equality tribunal issuing legally binding deci-sions,
the EA has a partial role of advocating equality and empowering possi-ble
victims of discrimination. The legislation covers nine grounds of discrimi-nation.

The arguments which have been presented in favour of an integrated ap-proach
for the nine grounds of discrimination in Ireland are:

that advances in one ground can assist advances across the other
grounds of discrimination

it avoids 'hierarchies' emerging among the various grounds of dis-crimination

it achieves administrative simplicity by encouraging multi-ground
strategies to promote equality and reduce the risk of fragmentation
it has the potential to promote the concept that people have multiple
identities (for instance minority ethnic women or gay people with a dis- 65
65 Page 66 67
60 Report on the role, structure and functioning of specialised bodies to promote equality and/ or combat discrimination – Final Report
ability – see also above)
The positive effects of combining the various legal bases into one
common law on equal treatment are primarily the achievement of a
simplification of the law and a higher degree of accessibility of the
legislation across the various grounds and social groups, especially in
cases, which combine several grounds of discrimination.

The integrated approach may also be an advantage for employers
and other organisations, which only have to deal with a limited num-ber
of actors in connection with discrimination issues.

The negative effects might be that of a risk of neglecting specific cir-cumstances
relevant to the various grounds. However, in Ireland,
where a process of reviewing the grounds is taking place, this is not
seen as an insurmountable problem, though no political decision has
yet been made as to whether new discriminatory grounds should be
added to the legislation.

The integrated approach taken by the ODEI as a quasi-judicial equal-ity
tribunal has also influenced the question of the burden of proof,
since it is now applying the transfer of the burden of proof to all
cases, not just to gender. This approach should be seen in relation
to the relatively small size of the institution, which has just 13 Equality
and Mediation Officers. There is no specialisation as to ground be-tween
the officers. The ODEI believes that there is no lack of exper-tise
arising from such close co-operation. Instead the integrated ap-proach
provides for spill-over effects, where principles established for
one ground can be applied to other grounds in the setting of prece-dents. 66
66 Page 67 68
61 Report on the role, structure and functioning of specialised bodies to promote equality and/ or combat discrimination – Final Report
Countries such as Britain, Sweden, Germany, the Netherlands,
Northern Ireland and Belgium are all contemplating whether and how
to integrate the various grounds into a single basis.

In Britain, the government issued a consultation paper in December
2001 on how to build a common framework for equality legislation
covering race, disability, age, religion, sex and sexual orientation.
This includes seeking to use the same or similar concepts where this
seems appropriate, and to use consistent definitions across all the
grounds of discrimination. In principle the CRE agrees with this ap-proach,
but as one member of the organisation says, the devil is in
the detail. This organisation's concern would be to ensure that there
will be no resulting dilution of the institution's existing powers to pro-tect
the rights and needs of victims. The Minister responsible for
equality co-ordination across government announced on 15 th May
2002, that it finds that there are good arguments in favour of a single
equality body, but stressed that the government is committed to an
open and inclusive process, and will be drawing on the expertise of
those working in the field. A project team established in the Cabinet
Office is looking into the question and is expected to announce some
initial conclusions in September 2002.

In Germany, equality and anti-discrimination directives are expected
to be implemented through two main laws – a labour law which also
contains anti-discrimination clauses, and a civil code containing gen-eral
anti-discrimination provisions.

In Northern Ireland, the local government has issued a consultation
paper concerning the adoption of a single equality bill in 2002. This
approach is supported by the Northern Ireland Equality Commission,
which hopes that this will simplify and clarify existing legislation and at
the same time allow for the inclusion of other vulnerable groups, thus
facilitating social inclusion.

In Belgium a new legal basis is under preparation. The new legisla-tion
will broaden the scope of the work of the Belgian Centre for
Equal Opportunities and the Fight Against Racism (CECLR) to cover 67
67 Page 68 69
62 Report on the role, structure and functioning of specialised bodies to promote equality and/ or combat discrimination – Final Report
a broad range of grounds of discrimination. It is expected to be
adopted by parliament during the summer of 2002.

Equally, in Sweden there is discussion about whether to integrate the
various grounds of discrimination into a single law and institution in
order to make the laws regulating their work more coherent and
transparent and to reduce the number of organisations concerned
with equal treatment.

4.1.2. The integration of institutions
The other aspect of horizontal integration is the possible integration of
different institutions working on equality and, in some cases, the es-tablishing
of new institutions covering several grounds of discrimina-tion.

In the Swedish context, among others, it has been argued that there
is a limit to the number of independent bodies, which can be estab-lished
in a single country. Unification into one institution is seen as a
means to ensure the bodies' effectiveness and clout. However, so far
the introduction of new grounds of discrimination has usually resulted
in the creation of new bodies.

New or existing bodies?
When establishing new bodies such as the Ombudsmen of Finland and Swe-den,
discussions took place as to whether the new grounds of discrimination
could be covered by broadening the perspective of existing institutions:

When the Finnish Ombudsman for Minorities was established to replace
the Ombudsman for Foreigners, there was debate in Parliament about
whether the Parliamentary Ombudsman could undertake this role. But Par-liament
considered that another separate institution should be established.
However, it agreed to follow the developments closely and to report on the
work of the Ombudsman for Minorities .

When the Ombudsman against Discrimination because of Sexual Orien-tation
(HomO) was established in Sweden, the committee looking into the
issue proposed that the area of sexual-orientation discrimination be placed
under the Ombudsman against Ethnic Discrimination (DO). However, the 68
68 Page 69 70
63 Report on the role, structure and functioning of specialised bodies to promote equality and/ or combat discrimination – Final Report
Government and Parliament preferred to have separate institutions working
with these specific issues in order to be able to take into account the specific
characteristics of sexual orientation discrimination, and to develop expertise
in this field.

Along with their current focus on the consolidation of the grounds of
discrimination, some Member States are voicing a desire to reduce
the number of separate institutions working with discrimination. In part
of the United Kingdom and in Belgium this has meant that one insti-tution,
respectively the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland and
the Belgian Centre for Equal Opportunities and the Fight Against Ra-cism
(CECLR), will include all the grounds of discrimination in their
work.

Horizontally integrating different types of discrimination
The Northern Ireland Equality Commission has been through a process
of amalgamation of four existing institutions into one. Following a tran-sition
period with four pillars, it has now become a unified organisation
with three horizontally-integrated departments: Public Relations & Pol-icy;
Legal Affairs Policy; and Operations & Corporate Services. Also, a
new single equality act is on its way through the parliamentary system
and is expected to be in place in autumn 2004.

Horizon
The No
amalga
riod with
zontally
Operati
through
2003. 69
69 Page 70 71
64 Report on the role, structure and functioning of specialised bodies to promote equality and/ or combat discrimination – Final Report
New discrimination grounds within an already established body
The Belgian Centre for Equal Opportunities and the Fight Against Racism
(CECLR), which has until now primarily worked in the area of racial and eth-nic
discrimination, faces new institutional challenges with the anticipated new
legislation, which will broaden its mandate to cover several grounds of dis-crimination.
According to its partners, the CECLR has a very strong profile in
its existing area of operation, and it has been faced with concerns about
whether a broadened mandate and extensive new tasks may dilute the pub-lic
image of the organisation and weaken its overall profile. It expects to
tackle this issue by establishing two distinct pillars of operation, one pillar
dealing with racism and the other devoted to the remaining grounds of dis-crimination

There are different views about the appropriateness of the two-pillar struc-ture,
and the expectation is that it will need to be reviewed after an initial
two-year period.

While grounds of discrimination such as disability, age and sexual orientation
are planned to be included within the CECLR's scope, it seems clear that
gender will remain a separate field.

The positive effects of combining institutions are that there is only one
institution to approach, and that the same treatment is available in
relation to every kind of discrimination. There is also a concern to en-sure
coherence and clarity in the information given to stakeholders
and the general public. It can be an advantage for the stakeholders
not to have to work with different actors on different issues. When
several specialised bodies exist to tackle the various aspects of dis-crimination,
it is important to ensure that victims of discrimination do
not fall into the cracks between the organisations concerned with the
different grounds of discrimination with the result that no-one takes on
their case. Today in Sweden attempts to avoid this are being made
through the close co-operation of the four ombudsmen.

Combining different grounds of discrimination
If a Swedish Ombudsman brings a case to court that includes several
grounds of discrimination, these grounds can be included too. From time to
time it can be difficult to determine whether discrimination has been taking
place because of sexual orientation or because of gender. Sometimes the 70
70 Page 71 72
65 Report on the role, structure and functioning of specialised bodies to promote equality and/ or combat discrimination – Final Report
complainant will also report the case of discrimination to more than one Om-budsman.
So in order to ensure coherence in the cases and avoid confusing
the individual complainant, the Ombudsman approached can include
grounds which are not necessarily part of his/ her core mandate. However,
the case has to be founded on discrimination based on a single specific
ground.

In addition, a possible decrease in the perceived hierarchy existing
between the different grounds of discrimination is expected where
horizontal integration is implemented. In countries with different insti-tutions
for the different grounds of discrimination, a sort of hierarchy
of older and newer grounds often implicitly or explicitly exists. But if
there is a shared view that equal treatment is primarily concerned
with not violating the law irrespective of the ground of equality, then it
should be possible to work more efficiently with all the grounds.

Finally, it is often considered an advantage to be able to share facili-ties
and resources.

Not surprisingly, a key concern of most institutions and stakeholders
concerned with a given type of discrimination is to ensure that the fo-cus
on it at least remains at the same level after a merger of institu-tions.
For instance, when the four Ombudsmen institutions in Sweden
debate if and how they might merge into one institution, a fundamen-tal
question is how to safeguard their deep-rooted knowledge of each
of the four areas of discrimination. Therefore they tend to favour ei-ther
of two solutions: a single Ombudsman institution which preserves
the different sub-areas in its internal workings, or a Commission
where the commissioners will each be expert in their respective fields.

Some of the interviews, such as in Denmark and Belgium, similarly
indicate that well-established institutions working within the equality
field (in these two cases, with the ground of gender) have lobbied
strongly to remain outside any future integrated institution due to their
fear of a loss of efficiency, influence or resources.

This is contradicted by the experience of Ireland, where those inter-viewed
emphasised that the different organisations and grounds of 71
71 Page 72 73
66 Report on the role, structure and functioning of specialised bodies to promote equality and/ or combat discrimination – Final Report
discrimination can stand stronger together because they possess the
power and the resources to focus their efforts, and because they can
invoke more aspects of discrimination than just a single ground in
their work. Their experience is that the expertise gained in one
ground can be transferred to the others by applying similar principles,
thereby creating a stronger case.

According to interviews in the institutions working with or towards an
integrated approach, a crucial point is to ensure that the various
grounds of discrimination are given visibility within the single institu-tion.
Structural obstacles among the various grounds and aspects
must be avoided in order not to make some discrimination issues in-visible.
For instance, issues concerning discrimination because of
sexual orientation are often invisible in society at large. If these are
also rendered invisible inside an institution which combines all the
grounds of discrimination, the level of reporting of cases in this field
might fall.

4.1.3. Summary of key points – horizontal integration
 The main discussion theme in relation to the growing number

of discrimination grounds is, "Should the laws on discrimina-tion
be consolidated into one act to include all grounds of dis-crimination?".

 Or should different provisions be made for each individual
ground of discrimination, potentially making the laws more
complicated and difficult to explain? 
A further issue is whether institutions dealing with discrimina-tion
should be integrated horizontally. The experience in Ire-land,
which has a fully integrated approach, is that a single in-stitution
working with nine integrated grounds of discrimination
possesses considerable advantages both for individual vic-tims,
for the organisations tackling the grounds of discrimina-tion,
and for employers, which only have to deal with one in-stitution.

 A concern is to ensure specific internal expertise in all the
grounds of discrimination, and that all discrimination grounds 72
72 Page 73 74
67 Report on the role, structure and functioning of specialised bodies to promote equality and/ or combat discrimination – Final Report
are given sufficient visibility. As the CECLR puts it, "All people
must feel that they have priority".

4.2. Scope of the institutions
4.2.1. Contextual scope
The contextual scope of the institutions as a whole varies according
to the laws, which establish them and/ or define their aims, tasks and
tools. The contextual scope of the individual bodies reflects the
boundaries and limitations of the legislation of a given Member State.

Whereas some of the bodies have no contextual limitation in scope,
others are restricted to certain areas. This especially concerns those
bodies which investigate cases of discrimination or resolve them, ei-ther
by providing opinions or bringing them to court. The scope of
these institutions is frequently limited to the employment/ labour mar-ket.
For some (such as the Irish ODEI and EA) this is complemented
by other areas such as goods and services, accommodation and
housing, and certain aspects of education and career development.

The implication for some institutions is that different instruments and
tools are available in relation to their different areas of coverage, as
illustrated in the box below.

Different tools and competencies in the workplace and in education
versus social life
The Swedish Ombudsmen work to counteract discrimination in all areas of
social life. However, the Ombudsmen have certain formal legal powers that
only relate to discrimination in the workplace. An overlap of competences
arises if a complainant belongs to a labour union which also wishes to deal
with his workplace-related complaint. However, only if the union decides not
to pursue his case may the ombudsman intervene. With the coming into
force of a new law from March 2002, higher education is also covered.

Most institutions work both with direct and indirect discrimination,
though British legislation in the field of disability does not distinguish
between indirect and direct discrimination. British legislation relies 73
73 Page 74 75
68 Report on the role, structure and functioning of specialised bodies to promote equality and/ or combat discrimination – Final Report
rather on the use of reasonable adjustments by the employer to meet
the needs of persons with disability and in this way to deal with situa-tions
which might arise as a result of both direct and indirect discrimi-nation.
Irish equality legislation includes indirect discrimination as well
as the concept of reasonable adjustment.

The Belgian definition of scope is one of the broadest among the or-ganisations
surveyed. It states that 'discrimination' means 'any form
of distinction, exclusion, restriction or preference whose purpose or
whose result is or could be to destroy, compromise or limit the equal
recognition, enjoyment or exercise of human rights and fundamental
freedoms on a political, economic, social or cultural level, or in any
other area of social life'.

4.2.2. Summary of key points – scope
 The contextual scope varies. Especially institutions that play a

direct role in resolving cases are subject to limitations in their
scope, which are related to their legal basis. 
The scope of an institution is also often dependent on its his-tory. 74
74 Page 75 76
69 Report on the role, structure and functioning of specialised bodies to promote equality and/ or combat discrimination – Final Report
5. Role in relation to the direct victims of discrimina-tion
The function of the institutions in relation to the direct victims of dis-crimination
spans a broad range of roles.

In this chapter we shall take a closer look at the areas of activity, be-ginning
with information about rights. Then the perspective broadens
to encompass the various functions and issues concerned with ad-vising
victims, handling complaints and investigations, resolving and
mediating complaints, the issuing of formal decisions and giving as-sistance
in court cases.

5.1. Information about rights and legislation
The majority of the institutions provide information about individual
rights, legislation and case law.

Quite a number have telephone lines to provide enquirers with advice
and knowledge. The Belgian Centre for Equal Opportunities and the
Fight Against Racism (CECLR) has introduced a freephone line.
Likewise, in France the CODACs have introduced an anonymous
freephone line, Le numéro vert –114. At the Dutch Equal Treatment
Commission a number of law student assistants provide telephone
advice to people seeking information on rights, such as whether their
case can be taken to the Commission or should be referred to other
relevant organisations. The Danish Advisory and Documentation
Centre on Racial Discrimination (DRC-DK) also runs a telephone
service where possible victims of discrimination can obtain legal ad-vice
on their case.

The majority of the institutions involved in information work have pro-vided
access to legislation and presented rights and options on their
websites. 75
75 Page 76 77
70 Report on the role, structure and functioning of specialised bodies to promote equality and/ or combat discrimination – Final Report
Several of the institutions have website-based forms for filing com-plaints,
either written in the national language alone or also translated
into several other languages.

However, preliminary contact with an institution often does not lead to
the victim filing a complaint. There are several possible reasons for
this. The case may not be covered by the law governing the activities
of the institution, the institution concerned may not consider it a case
of discrimination, or the victim may be discouraged from continuing by
a requirement that the case be made public.

Most institutions have produced pamphlets or other written material
concerning rights related to equal treatment. For instance, the Com-missioner
of Foreigners' Affairs of the Berlin Senate produces a free
publication each month on issues of particular interest to migrant
groups which among other things includes information about new
legislation. An important function of many institutions like the Irish
Equality Authority (EA) is to publish concise information about dis-crimination
legislation, the rights it confers and the possibility of pur-suing
a claim for discrimination.

Providing access to information nationwide
The Irish Equality Authority (EA) views part of its role as one of disseminat-ing
information about rights and taking cases of strategic importance to the
ODEI and other relevant courts, as well as assuming responsibility for
reaching all parts of the country. It aims to achieve this through leaflets and
campaign material and via meetings with organisations in some of the larger
cities. Further, as mentioned earlier, a solicitor from the EA sets up clinics
once a month in several cities where people are given information about the
law and their options in pursuing claims.

The next stage in assisting victims of discrimination is giving advice
on whether the person is likely to have a case and how to proceed
with it, i. e. by supplying details about the case procedure, options for
legal representation and sources of further assistance, such as trade
unions in employment cases, NGOs or the police. Institutions which 76
76 Page 77 78
71 Report on the role, structure and functioning of specialised bodies to promote equality and/ or combat discrimination – Final Report
operate such an information service generally integrate it into their
helpline service or the printed material they distribute. Their advice
may also address the mechanics of filing a complaint or bringing a
case to court. Some of the institutions also help with interpreting in-formation
issued by such entities as ministerial legal departments.

Not just the victims but the witnesses of discrimination may also re-quire
advice on how to respond. Such advice can include assistance
in reporting an incident to the proper authorities or referral to a law-yer.

Advice can include prevention. Organisations and employers may for
instance seek advice on how to interpret legislation or how to estab-lish
a policy for the various grounds, e. g. in housing policies or in
health care, or to ensure that their company's employee policy does
not contain discriminatory clauses. Several institutions, among them
the British Commission for Racial Equality (CRE) and the Northern
Ireland Equality Commission, provide guidelines, codes of practice
and advice on such issues on their websites.

5.2. Investigating complaints
A number of the institutions are engaged in collecting and investigat-ing
complaints filed by the victims of discrimination. While some
mainly assist the applicants in the presentation of their complaints,
other organisations have a more formally-established role in investi-gating
reported cases of discrimination.

The British Commission for Racial Equality has a strong enforcement
role based on its extensive powers of conducting formal investiga-tions
of companies and organisations where there is evidence of pos-sible
discrimination. If such an investigation concludes that discrimi-nation
is occurring or has occurred, the CRE has the means to oblige
the company or organisation to change its operating methods (see
box). 77
77 Page 78 79
72 Report on the role, structure and functioning of specialised bodies to promote equality and/ or combat discrimination – Final Report
Powers to conduct formal investigations
The British Commission for Racial Equality (CRE) has extensive powers to
conduct formal investigations of companies and organisations.

The CRE can, if there is evidence of possible discrimination, order an or-ganisation
or a company to produce documents and give evidence; however,
to do so it must obtain authorisation from the Secretary of State for the
Home Office.

If discriminatory practices are discovered the CRE can require an organisa-tion
or company to follow instructions for action which it has specified in a
non-discrimination notice.

The reports of its formal investigation findings are public documents.
To enforce a non-discrimination notice, the CRE can if necessary obtain a
court order or conduct a further formal investigation to ensure that the action
required in the notice is being carried out.

The CRE also has the sole power of enforcing the prohibition of dis-criminatory
advertisements and prohibiting the application of pressure
or instructions having discriminatory intent. The organisation has
three lines of action: Either to apply to a court for a declaration stating
that an action is an unlawful act of discrimination; to conduct a formal
investigation; or to resolve the matter informally by negotiation.

Accordingly, during its investigation the institution might exercise spe-cial
powers and demand access to information from the parties in-volved.
This is also the case with the Equality Officers of the ODEI,
the quasi-judicial equality tribunal in Ireland.
Some institutions have more limited powers. If an employer does not
obey a request to supply relevant information, the Swedish Ombuds-man
Against Discrimination Because of Sexual Orientation (HomO)
can issue an order under penalty of an administrative fine for non-compliance.

The system of investigation operated in France through the CODAC
network is different from the approach taken by the other institutions
surveyed. Here the emphasis is on identifying key actors within the
region which can ensure that any reported discriminatory action is 78
78 Page 79 80
73 Report on the role, structure and functioning of specialised bodies to promote equality and/ or combat discrimination – Final Report
followed up, and that remedial action is taken to correct poor practice
and ensure justice for the person who has been discriminated
against.

Using 'reference persons' to investigate
The CODAC secretariats are found within the local public administration in
all departments in France. They are typically staffed by one or two part-time
employees. An important part of their job is to follow up on cases of com-plaints
of discrimination. Complaints are addressed to them on special
forms, many of which are submitted via referral from the freephone 'numéro
114'. The secretary of the CODAC usually has an established network of
'reference persons' (often senior civil servants in key agencies such as the
employment service and the police, or people from anti-racism associations
and trade unions). In the event of a complaint these people are contacted
and requested to investigate. The subjects of the complaints can be both
public bodies and private employers.

In Paris, following discussions with NGOs, the CODAC has now agreed that
in cases where the complaint concerns a public institution, a second person
nominated by the NGOs should participate in the investigation of the case to
ensure greater impartiality.

Some institutions cannot take the complaint further but only log the
number and type of complaints brought to them in order to identify
patterns of discrimination. For instance, this is the role of the Exper-tise
Centre Age and Society in the Netherlands (LBL). LBL does not
take up individual cases of age discrimination, but supports people
with information. The complaints that it receives are recorded and
published every year. If the LBL receives an unusually high number of
complaints about a particular topic, e. g. a certain area of the housing
market, the centre will investigate it and the surrounding issues.

In addition to investigating individual complaints, some institutions
can also investigate on their own initiative if it is found that discrimi-nation
in a certain organisation or a wider area of society exists.

Ideas for investigations can arise from many sources, for instance the
press. The criteria applied by these organisations for general investi-gations
tend to be that the issues should embody an important princi- 79
79 Page 80 81
74 Report on the role, structure and functioning of specialised bodies to promote equality and/ or combat discrimination – Final Report
ple and affect many people either directly or through long-term nor-mative
effects.

For example, the Dutch Equal Treatment Commission may choose to
initiate an investigation on its own initiative if a serious problem is
identified. The Commission will usually then convene the most im-portant
actors for roundtable discussions with the aim of identifying
specific solutions.

Likewise, the Swedish Ombudsman Against Ethnic Discrimination
(DO) can investigate suspected discrimination without a complaint
having been filed. When the DO recognises a pattern of discrimina-tion,
she is in a position to invite public authorities, companies and
organisations to discuss the changes needed.

Investigating and changing norms
Together with the Ombudsman for Gender Equality, the Swedish Ombuds-man
Against Discrimination Because of Sexual Orientation (HomO) took the
initiative of investigating the criteria for appointing the defence officials at
Sweden's foreign embassies. The provisions were from December 2000. In
the definition of the officials it was stated that "the person should be married,
and in order for the wife to function in social settings her language compe-tences
should be developed," which thereby implied the expected gender of
the official, his sexual orientation and his marital status. The investigation
ensured quite a lot of media attention.

The Equality Authority in Ireland (EA) can take up cases without a
complainant and conduct investigations in order to combat structural
discrimination. This has for instance been applied in relation to adver-tising
or the content of policies.

The British Commission for Racial Equality also has clear powers to
initiate investigation into a defined area of activities in society as a
whole, and can order respondents to produce documents and give
evidence which will be compiled in reports. These reports are typically
then made public and followed by a set of recommendations. 80
80 Page 81 82
75 Report on the role, structure and functioning of specialised bodies to promote equality and/ or combat discrimination – Final Report
Another approach is situational testing, which is for instance currently
practised by the Belgian CECLR and the Berlin Commissioner. The
British CRE was previously also involved in this type of activity.

Situational testing
The Belgian Centre for Equal Opportunities and the Fight Against Racism
(CECLR) has a limited but interesting role in investigations, because the
CECLR and its partner organisations organise equality situation testing.
Here, identically-clothed people of different ethnicities are asked to ap-proach
the same discothèque or bar in front of witnesses to test whether
they receive systematically unequal treatment. This may afterwards be
used as evidence in a court case. In one particular instance which formed
part of a larger case, proof of discrimination was provided by a video and
tape recording of the conversation that took place between the door-keeper
at a discothèque and his victim. The Court ruled that "these video
recordings, even if they were made without the knowledge of the door-keepers,
do not in themselves constitute evidence unlawfully acquired.
The fact that these recordings were made to record particular facts does
not mean that the facts were provoked".

The results of investigations can thus be used at different levels: to
ensure that individual services of the public administration change
any discriminatory practices, as in the French CODAC; to apply pres-sure
to particular companies or organisations to change their ap-proaches
and practices, as in the case of the formal investigations
and non-discriminatory notices of the British CRE; to provide docu-mentation
in court cases, as with the situational testing organised by
the Belgian CECLR and the Berlin Commissioner; or to make public
and political decision makers aware, by means of broader analysis
reports, of structural problems which are resulting in unequal treat-ment
or indirect discrimination.

5.3. Assisting in the legal process
In connection with the direct discrimination of victims, two kinds of
legal assistance may be involved in the actual processing of a com-plaint:

Legal advice and attempts to resolve cases out-of-court 81
81 Page 82 83
76 Report on the role, structure and functioning of specialised bodies to promote equality and/ or combat discrimination – Final Report

Legal advice and representation when a case is taken to
court.

5.3.1. Legal advice and settling cases outside the courtroom
Several organisations provide support to victims in cases of discrimi-nation
without involving the courts or the judicial system, via media-tion
and the resolution of disputes. This may be based on written
complaints issued by the institution on behalf of the victim/ complain-ant,
as is practised by the Belgian Centre for Equal Opportunities and
the Fight Against Racism (CECLR) and others. As a result the major-ity
of the cases in Belgium are settled outside the court system. The
Berlin Office of the Commissioner also actively explores other ave-nues
than the court system and has gained experience with the me-diation
of cases involving the co-operation of the police.

Several of the institutions are planning to include more mediation ac-tivities
in their work, as they believe that a voluntary settlement
among the parties will often be more helpful to the victims than a for-mal
statement or verdict. A primary focus is also the reduction of the
personal and financial cost involved in pursuing a case through the
traditional legal system.

Out-of-court settlements
If the complaint is against an employer, the Commission for Racial Equality
(CRE) will try to settle the case through ACAS (the advisory, conciliation and
arbitration service in employment relations) on behalf of the applicant. Ac-cording
to the 2000 CRE annual report, the CRE made 77 out-of-court-settlements
worth €2,18 mio (£ 1,362,444).

However, according to the Swedish Ombudsman Against Ethnic Dis-crimination
the advantages of mediation must not lead decision-makers
to rely exclusively on mediation procedures, as the threat of
bringing a case to court is important for putting pressure on the par-ties
to find a solution. 82
82 Page 83 84
77 Report on the role, structure and functioning of specialised bodies to promote equality and/ or combat discrimination – Final Report
How the option of taking cases to court encourages out-of-court set-tlements
Before taking a case to court, the Swedish Ombudsman Against Ethnic Dis-crimination
(DO) will suggest an out-of-court settlement. The law states that
the first priority is to arrive at a voluntary settlement. Settlements are also
less demanding of the DO's resources. The Ombudsman meets with the
parties involved and seeks to reach agreement on financial compensation
or some other relevant solution. While the DO interprets achieving a high
number of such settlements as a criterion of success, it can also sometimes
be important to obtain a court verdict and thereby establish a legal inter-pretation
of an item of legislation. Since the law on measures against ethnic
discrimination in the workplace came into force in 1999, the number of out-of-
court settlements has increased. In 2001 there were about 32 settle-ments
out of the 262 cases that were concluded the same year. This in-cludes
those settlements achieved with the assistance of trade unions. Of-ten
such a resolution is the preferred solution for both parties, e. g. because
a complainant might prefer a job he/ she had applied for than financial com-pensation.
This would not be possible to achieve in court.

However, having the option of bringing cases to court might, according to
the DO, apply a degree of pressure to the parties and serve as encourage-ment
towards reaching a settlement.

In Ireland the mediation service is an integrated part of the legal
structure which processes discrimination claims.

A legally-binding mediation service as part of an integrated approach
The Office of the Director of Equality Investigations (ODEI) in Ireland can
process complaints of discrimination by two different methods – formal in-vestigation
and mediation. In the overall majority of cases the ODEI will
suggest mediation as a way of settling the case. The mediation method
used by ODEI is an internationally recognized process whereby a trained
Mediation Officer who takes a neutral and impartial role assists the parties
in exploring the areas of dispute, and where possible to assist them in
reaching a mutually acceptable agreement. The process is voluntary and
either party may end the process at any time. When a settlement is reached
both parties sign a legally-binding agreement.

The mediation process is based on the following principles: 83
83 Page 84 85
78 Report on the role, structure and functioning of specialised bodies to promote equality and/ or combat discrimination – Final Report

Consent: this is sought independently from both parties

Impartiality: the mediation service guarantees impartiality

Voluntary process: the consent of both parties is necessary, and

either party may withdraw from the process at any time

Accessibility: the mediation is free of charge and intended to be
universally accessible

Participation: the process is based on the active participation of the
parties involved in the case

Power balance: the mediator will ensure balanced negotiations and
will prevent manipulative or intimidatory negotiation techniques

Third parties: these are welcome to be included in the process

Advice: where the case involves rights and obligations other than
those in which the mediator is trained, s/ he will refer the parties to
independent advice

Confidentiality: the mediation is conducted in private, and the terms
of the settlement are not published.

(Office of the Director of Equality Investigation, Mediation Procedures and Guidelines, 2000)

All parties in Ireland agree that having some kind of mediation service
which resolves cases outside the court system has considerable ad-vantages.

The strengths of the mediation procedure as viewed in Ireland are as
follows:

It is less time-consuming than formal investigations.

There is no loser, both parties can win.

The parties involved retain ownership of the process and can
control the outcome.

The process focuses on the future, not just on past history.

If a settlement cannot be reached, the case will go on to for-mal
investigations within the ODEI. An Equality Officer who is
not the Mediation Officer will carry out the investigation.

A potential weakness of mediation which has been expressed by the
trade unions in Ireland is that people might lose their rights if they en-gaged
in legally-binding mediation decisions without knowing their
actual legal position in the case. 84
84 Page 85 86
79 Report on the role, structure and functioning of specialised bodies to promote equality and/ or combat discrimination – Final Report
Another concern about mediation which is voiced by some NGOs is
that government organisations or employers might try to hide dis-crimination
behind the more closed procedures of mediation. How-ever,
others maintain that reaching a settlement outside the courts
has always been possible, and that the advantages of a more struc-tured
procedure by far outweigh the risk.

Conciliation services
The British Disability Rights Commission (DRC) has made arrangements for
a conciliation service which is available to any disabled person who thinks
that he/ she may have been discriminated against when trying to access
goods and services. It is run by a separate organisation on behalf of the
DRC. This organisation will also run a 'disability in education conciliation'
service when new legislation comes into effect in September 2002.

A more politically-charged institutional issue is that the willingness of
institutions to promote mediation and out-of-court settlements might
be curbed if these more 'soft' interventions are not perceived by pol-icy
makers as part of the criteria of an institution's overall success.
Thus institutions which are mainly judged by the quantity of opinions
or verdicts might lack the motivation to promote mediation measures.
At the Dutch Equal Treatment Commission some members pointed
out the risk of an institution's financing authorities tending to focus
narrowly on the more measurable criterion of verdicts, and also em-phasised
the importance of not reducing its achievements to an an-nual
total of verdicts.

A more active mediation role?
The Dutch Equal Treatment Commission actively investigates its cases, and
has found that instead of exploring differences, a mediation approach can
highlight common denominators and thus bring the parties closer to settle-ment.
As a result of these observations, the Dutch Equal Treatment Com-mission
is presently considering undertaking a more active role in mediation
and intervention during the earlier stages of the process. The Commission 85
85 Page 86 87
80 Report on the role, structure and functioning of specialised bodies to promote equality and/ or combat discrimination – Final Report
considers that a legal judgement may not always be the most satisfactory
way to resolve a problem because the legal procedure tends to emphasise
the opposition of positions rather than the finding of common ground. This is
all the more so as the legal process which involves the Commission can sour
the relationship between the parties.

However, according to the Dutch Commission the issue of mediation
does raise some additional questions of principle. Mediation is gener-ally
more concerned with the avoidance of conflict escalation rather
than focussing on developing case law. The concern of the Commis-sion
is therefore to ensure that a stronger role in mediation does not
bring the institution in a role that contrast too strongly with the institu-tions
general focus on a strict enforcement of the law against dis-crimination.
If not, it could lead to confusion as to the purpose of the
institution.

It also raises the question of whether the same institution can simul-taneously
fulfil mediation and policy advisory roles. Some of the staff
of the Dutch Commission consider it potentially problematic that the
same organization can be involved both in the legislative process and
in reaching out-of-court settlements in which the law has been bent to
achieve a resolution. It might create a clearer definition of compe-tences
if the institution consulted during the legislative process could
instead refer the complainants to another institution to file their com-plaint,
as is already the case with the Disability Rights Commission in
Britain. The Disability Rights Commission has made arrangements for
a conciliation service which will be available to disabled people who
think they have been discriminated against, and which is run by a
separate organisation on behalf of the Commission.

Other institutions tend to believe that the debate on achieving a ver-dict
on violations of the law versus an out-of-court settlement should
not be exaggerated. The goal of the work of the Swedish Ombuds-man
Against Discrimination Because of Sexual Orientation (HomO) is
for the complainant to be satisfied with the outcome. Of course this
does not imply that the HomO would uncritically accept any agree-ment.
But the approach of the HomO is to seek a settlement, and not
necessarily to name a guilty party. 86
86 Page 87 88
81 Report on the role, structure and functioning of specialised bodies to promote equality and/ or combat discrimination – Final Report
In conclusion, mediation is attracting considerable interest in many
institutions.

5.3.2. Legal advice and representation when pursuing cases through the courts
Only a few of the institutions actually have experience so far of
bringing cases to court. This is explained as being due to operating
under rather new legislation; a lack of resources; and the institution in
question waiting for the right case to bring to court as its first.

Institutions such as the Danish Advisory and Documentation Centre
on Racial Discrimination (DRC-DK) and the French CODAC refer
cases to lawyers or the state attorney, but the legal procedures are
lengthy and cases often fail to reach court due to insufficient evi-dence.

One of the institutions that does have experience of bringing cases to
court is the Belgian Centre for Equal Opportunities and the Fight
Against Racism (CECLR). The centre helps people to bring court ac-tions,
and has itself brought a number of cases to court. The CECLR
can also take up cases without a direct victim of discrimination.

When organisations have a strong mandate to take up cases on their
own initiative
CECLR can even act as a party to a legal case where there are no direct
victims of an offence. This was the case when identified persons shot at
the mosque in the city of Turnhout. There were no direct victims, but the
CECLR took the case to court in the capacity of complainant, and a sen-tence
was passed. In other cases the CECLR has filed cases when Bel-gian
citizens have committed discriminatory acts abroad and the victims
could not subsequently be identified. One such case, which received great
media attention, concerned the conduct of some members of the Belgian
peace-keeping soldiers in Somalia who committed racist acts towards the
local population. Also in this case the CECLR acted as the complainant on
behalf of the Somali victims. 87
87 Page 88 89
82 Report on the role, structure and functioning of specialised bodies to promote equality and/ or combat discrimination – Final Report
Other institutions with experience in bringing cases to court are the
EA and the Commission for Racial Equality (CRE).

The EA has a dual function to combat discrimination and to promote
equality in the way it works to empower and protect the potential vic-tims
of discrimination, in addition to having a proactive role in pro-moting
equality. Both the EA and CRE have the discretion to repre-sent
potential victims of discrimination, but are not obliged to do so in
all cases. Instead they can consider the cases and give the com-plainants
preliminary advice on the legislation and their legal position,
referring them to NGOs, trade unions or other bodies where possible.
They take on strategic cases and offer free legal representation in
pursuing such claims through the system.

Criteria for granting assistance in court cases
The criteria for the granting of assistance in court cases adopted at present
by the Irish Equality Authority are still quite flexible, as the organisation does
not wish to be limited by excessively strict and rigid criteria. The EA does,
however, apply the following broad criteria to identify the cases it will take
on:
-Cases of serious injustice
-Where the case could establish a precedent
-In cases of continuing resistance
-Where no other legal assistance is available and where the complainant
has difficulties representing him/ herself.

New criteria are currently being finalised by the EA board that build on the
above.

The Swedish Ombudsmen too may as a last resort assist in bringing
cases before a court.

Complaints regarding discrimination in the labour market
A person who considers that they have been discriminated against on the
basis of their ethnic background can write to the Swedish Ombudsman
Against Ethnic Discrimination (DO) and submit a complaint. A DO case offi- 88
88 Page 89 90
83 Report on the role, structure and functioning of specialised bodies to promote equality and/ or combat discrimination – Final Report
cer contacts the complainant within a week of submission. If the complainant
is a union member, the union is contacted to see if it will represent its mem-ber.
If not, the DO can provide representation. Hereafter the DO or the union
can meet with the complainant and the employer being complained against.
Sometimes settlements are reached which involve some form of compensa-tion
for the complainant. As a last resort the union or the DO can bring a
lawsuit against the employer in the Labour Court. The complainant is not
required to pay the legal costs.

The EA has adopted a strategy of aiming to build advocacy skills
among groups subject to discrimination.

Community advocacy among the users
The Equality Authority in Ireland (EA) can provide victims of discrimination
with legal information and can also represent the victims in the processing of
the case by the Office of the Director of Equality Investigation (ODEI) or in
relation to any proceedings in respect of which redress is provided under the
Employment Equality Act 1998 or the Equal Status Act 2000. Because of the
large volume of cases, especially those concerning Travellers' access to
public houses, it has initiated a community advocacy pilot project. The EA
provides a strategic legal service and also does not have the capacity to
process all claims. The focus of the new programme is to train people to rep-resent
themselves. The Irish Travellers' Community has nominated individu-als
who have then undergone substantial training. The EA has developed a
resource pack, including information materials and a video. A telephone hot-line
has also been set up through which the community representatives can
get help from the EA.

The Dutch Equal Treatment Commission is discussing the possible
problems of its potential double role. The Commission can assist vic-tims
in bringing cases to court. But since the institution also has a
quasi-judicial role in giving opinions on equality cases (see section
5.4), this can be seen as a rather dangerous provision, as it is not un-problematic
to first have the role of an independent judge, and sub-sequently
that of a prosecutor.

Confusion of roles? 89
89 Page 90 91
84 Report on the role, structure and functioning of specialised bodies to promote equality and/ or combat discrimination – Final Report
The Equal Treatment Commission can take legal action in order to obtain a
court ruling that conduct contrary to the relevant equal treatment regulations
is unlawful, that it should be prohibited, or that the consequences of such
conduct should be rectified. This power has been one of the most disputed
subjects of the Equal Treatment Act. The reason for giving it to the Commis-sion
was to provide some comfort for the absence of enforceability of the
Commission's rulings. The Commission has not yet taken a case to court.

Ireland, on the other hand, is an example of a balanced model with a
clear division of responsibilities between the EA as a proactive body
working to promote equality and empower users, and next to it the
Office of the Director of Equality Investigations (ODEI) acting as a tri-bunal
for processing individual cases and issuing legally-binding de-cisions.

Most institutions have articulated the need to have a watertight case
before bringing it to court. However, as the Danish Advisory and
Documentation Centre on Racial Discrimination (DRC-DK) illustrates,
a lost court case can occasionally also play a major role in changing
legislation.

Changing legislation through lost cases
From time to time the Danish Advisory and Documentation Centre on Ra-cial
Discrimination (DRC-DK) takes on a case which it knows it may well
lose in the Danish courts. Its aim is to take the decision further, either to
the Danish Ombudsman or to the UN Committee on the Elimination of
Racial Discrimination, in order to push for a change in legislation or a
change of practice. In a couple of cases this has led to the amendment or
sharpening-up of legislation or current practice.

Sometimes the aim is not necessarily just to win an individual case,
but to take it up in order to draw attention to structural discrimination
and make an attempt to change it, as illustrated by the examples from
DRC-DK in Denmark and the Swedish Ombudsman Against Dis-crimination
Because of Sexual Orientation which are given below.

The role of the institution can also be to push cases that have other-wise
been rejected. For instance, the Danish Advisory and Docu-mentation
Centre on Racial Discrimination (DRC-DK) started to take 90
90 Page 91 92
85 Report on the role, structure and functioning of specialised bodies to promote equality and/ or combat discrimination – Final Report
up cases which the police had rejected. These initiatives have moti-vated
the police to reconsider some cases and investigate more of
them than before.

When organisations take a proactive role on behalf of the complainant
The involvement of the Swedish Ombudsman on Discrimination Because of
Sexual Orientation (HomO) forced the police to consider cases of discrimi-nation
on the basis of sexual orientation. Two women brought a case for-ward
to the police regarding discrimination because of their sexual orienta-tion.
Despite their naming of the offender the police had closed the case,
because the discrimination could not be shown to have been perpetrated by
the alleged offender. After HomO examined the case it was reopened and
new investigations were undertaken by the police, subsequently leading to
the passing of a sentence.

A final aspect that should be mentioned is the possibility of presenting
several cases together as a joined action.

Presenting several cases as a joined action
The Belgian Centre for Equal Opportunities and the Fight Against Racism
(CECLR) has obtained good results by gathering applications and presenting
collective case files to the relevant authorities, such as where refugees
lacked personal documents like driving licences or educational diplomas and
could not retrieve them because they were unable to contact the authorities
in their home countries. By collecting a number of comparable files and pre-senting
them to the Court as a joined action the CECLR was able to illustrate
the scope of the problem, and the immigrants were eventually exempted
from presenting these documents in certain situations.

5.4. Acting as a formal decision-making body
Two of the institutions involved in this study have the power to act as
quasi-judicial bodies making formal decisions in cases of possible
discrimination.

 The Dutch Equal Treatment Commission, which makes advi-sory
decisions with no binding legal status and which are not
enforceable. 91
91 Page 92 93
86 Report on the role, structure and functioning of specialised bodies to promote equality and/ or combat discrimination – Final Report
 The Office of The Director of Equality Investigations (ODEI),
which, as a quasi-judicial tribunal makes legally-binding deci-sions.

Also, the three Swedish Ombudsmen have the power to issue deci-sions
based on their investigations. They can approach parties in a
conflict and ask them to change discriminatory practices or regula-tions.
However they cannot amend verdicts, issue formal legal deci-sions,
award damages or change the decisions of other authorities.

The powers of the British CRE in issuing non-discrimination notices
have also been described previously.

Hearings at the Dutch Equal Treatment Commission
The hearings are staged in a fairly informal setting to allow the commission-ers
to inform the parties on the laws and their implications. There is less at
stake than at a court, and greater room for reconciliation. Hearings at the
Commission should preferably take place within 6 months of a complainant
submitting a written complaint to it.

The three commissioners and the juridical advisor have a pre-meeting where
the content and format of the hearing are discussed. Generally the chairper-son
or the vice chair hosts the hearing. But instead of having only one com-missioner
asking questions during the hearing, they decide how to allocate
the work among themselves and how to handle the case and their roles in it.

The Commissioners give considerable attention to how they communicate
with the parties in the hearings. It is important for them to do so in open and
positive terms to encourage the parties to co-operate and find solutions.
Therefore internal communication officials at the Commission provide feed-back
to individual Commissioners so that they can continuously improve
their personal communication strategies.

The Dutch Commission emphasises that the chance of the parties
obeying the decision given is greater when the parties have been in-formed
about the relevant laws. Therefore one purpose of the hearing
is often to make the parties understand the workings and intent of the
legislation relevant to the case. 92
92 Page 93 94
87 Report on the role, structure and functioning of specialised bodies to promote equality and/ or combat discrimination – Final Report
The Dutch Equal Treatment Commission believes that there are posi-tive
results to be derived from its opinions not being binding. The fact
that its opinions are not legally enforceable means that the quality of
their work is all the more important. It places considerable emphasis
on drafting precise and persuasive opinions. In a substantial number
of cases the defendants have observed the terms of its conclusions,
and in a third of the cases measures have been taken to avoid future
discrimination.

On the other hand, some Commissioners and representatives from
the Ombudsmen institutions in Sweden occasionally express frustra-tion
about not being able to implement their decisions. For this reason
they also focus more on the structural aspects of discrimination in or-der
to promote long-term change.

One institution included in this study has the power of issuing legally-binding
decisions, namely the Office of the Director of Equality Inves-tigations
in Ireland (ODEI), which acts as a quasi-judicial tribunal. The
advantage of the quasi-judicial setting as opposed to a court is that
the ODEI is not solely dependent on the evidence presented. The
Equality Officers also act as investigators who can request docu-ments
and ask clarifying questions.

Another important point emphasized by the ODEI is that no legal rep-resentation
is required.

Making the court accessible: trying cases free of charge and without
legal representation

Two of the main points of the Irish Office of the Director of Equality Investiga-tions (ODEI) are that its cases are investigated free of charge and that no
legal representation is required. These basic conditions aim to make the ODEI, the equality tribunal, accessible to everybody. However, especially in
employment cases, where there is substantial case law, the complainant will benefit greatly from being represented. In some cases (around 30 %) trade
unions will conduct the cases on behalf of the complainant. A significant pro-portion of complainants in Equal Status cases had no representation, another
significant group were represented by NGOs, some by the EA and quite a few had legal representation. 93
93 Page 94 95
88 Report on the role, structure and functioning of specialised bodies to promote equality and/ or combat discrimination – Final Report
One of the main issues for the Irish ODEI has been to establish itself
as a legitimate and authoritative body, and the ODEI itself, the Equal-ity
Authority and the stakeholders believe that this has been
achieved. As the equality legislation is still quite new it remains to be
seen how many cases will be overturned in the appeals process. So
far none of the appeal cases under the 2000 Equal Status Act and the
Employment Equality Act have been decided, but five cases decided
under previous legislation which were brought to the ODEI for adjudi-cation
have been either overturned or amended. The ODEI sees this
as a positive result. With regard to Labour Court Appeals -under the pre-vious
gender & marital status employment equality legislation approx. 35
appeals were heard in the last 3 years. In approx. 80% of the cases the La-bour
Court upheld on appeal the findings of the Equality Officers. The fact
that there are no signs that complainants are attempting to bypass
the ODEI in order to have their cases heard in the court system also
supports the impression of a legitimate and authoritative body. In ad-dition,
the decisions made by the ODEI are seen as very competent
and legally well-founded by stakeholders and users. However, re-ducing
the time required to process claims is seen as a challenge for
the institution.

The institutions involved in giving opinions have to accept all cases
that are not manifestly unfounded. But there can be a feeling that
some of the problems are trivial, or that a case involves considera-tions
that the legislators did not intend their legislation to cover. It is
quite resource-consuming for an institution to get involved in a case
and provide an opinion or a statement. So the institutions are in-creasingly
trying to filter out the irrelevant cases before their workload
overwhelms them. This can partly be achieved by asking the parties 94
94 Page 95 96
89 Report on the role, structure and functioning of specialised bodies to promote equality and/ or combat discrimination – Final Report
for more information before embarking on a complaints process. Then
they might be advised to write a new complaint containing more in-formation.
In Ireland the issue of caseloads and the extended proc-essing
time they entail is seen as one of the potential difficulties for
an institution, especially since there are no penalties if one of the par-ties
does not co-operate or delays the procedure.

Another issue that could be considered as a weakness in the legal
constitution of processing tribunals like the ODEI -equality tribunal,
is that class actions are not possible, meaning that they cannot take
up cases for a whole group of persons. However, a trade union, for
example, could lodge a group of complaints on behalf of named indi-viduals,
as happens frequently with Equal Pay claims. In the Nether-lands,
the Dutch anti-discrimination bureaux can file a complaint on
behalf of a victim or on their own initiative. The latter possibility has
proven useful when, for reasons of fear or uncertainty, a victim has
been reluctant to bring his or her case personally. As previously il-lustrated,
the same option is open to the CECLR in Belgium.

The Equality Authority in Ireland also considers its inability to inter-vene
in ongoing cases to be a point of weakness. The third potential
weakness regarding its legal role is the unavailability of interlocutory
injunction. An injunction is a remedy in the form of a court order ad-dressed
to a particular person that either prohibits him from commit-ting
or continuing a certain act, or which orders him to carry out a
certain act. The Equality Authority, for example can seek injunctions
in the case of discriminatory job advertisements, to prevent the ap-pointment
of any person to any post to which the advertisement re-lates.
Some institutions point out that interlocutory injunction as an
internal relief to modify the actions of the defendant while a case is
ongoing could be a very effective remedy in promoting individual
rights, since very often those involved in the case are suffering all the
while their case is being heard. An example of the type of case where
this might have a great impact would be instances in which Roma or
Traveller children have been denied access to schools. 95
95 Page 96 97
90 Report on the role, structure and functioning of specialised bodies to promote equality and/ or combat discrimination – Final Report
5.4.1. Change in discriminatory behaviour – courses for action
When handling individual cases of discrimination, some of the institu-tions
aim to ensure non-repetition of the discrimination. The institu-tions
try to do so by providing training to the persons in question. The
body may suggest as part of the settlement that training sessions are
provided in order to encourage an offender not to repeat his discrimi-natory
actions. In this regard the work not only focuses on settling the
individual case, but on changing attitudes and actions to prevent any
further discrimination.

A great strength in the decisions of the Irish Office of the Director of
Equality Investigations (ODEI), according to both the institution itself
and the stakeholders in Ireland, is that they provide for corrective ac-tion.

Legally binding decisions of the Irish ODEI to provide redress
All decisions issued by Equality Officers at the ODEI-the equality tribunal,
are legally binding and include a very detailed presentation of the case,
the positions of the disputing parties, and the reasoning behind the ODEI's
decision. In addition to awarding compensation for the effects of discrimi-nation,
the decisions may include orders for specific courses of action to
be taken to change a discriminatory practice or prevent further discrimina-tion.
The Equality Officer can, for instance, instruct an employer to estab-lish
a diversity policy, or instruct a firm to install a lift for persons with dis-abilities.
This is seen as a great asset in decreasing existing discrimination
and in working proactively to promote equality.

Through its right to conduct formal investigations and issue non-discrimination
notices, the British Commission for Racial Equality
(CRE) possesses a very powerful tool for forcing companies and or-ganisations
to change practices and approaches that encourage dis-crimination.
One of the most-cited cases of 2000 was the formal in-vestigation
of a large motor vehicle manufacturers which led to an
agreement on a series of measures to counter discrimination. 96
96 Page 97 98
91 Report on the role, structure and functioning of specialised bodies to promote equality and/ or combat discrimination – Final Report
CRE forces multinational to counter discrimination
The CRE decided in 2000 to conduct a formal investigation of a multinational
motor vehicle manufacturers. This followed evidence of racial discrimination
and failure by the company to take effective action in response to complaints
of racial harassment.
The Commission agreed to suspend its decision to carry out a formal investi-gation
after assurances in a meeting with the European Chairman that the
company would comply with stringent conditions for improvements within a
tight timetable for action.
This included:

A wide-ranging diversity and equality assessment review of its racial
equality practices

Work with the CRE to develop a strategy to implement required
changes identified by the review, and to set out an Action Plan for
improvement

Clear and independent means for the verifiable measurement of ef-fective
and lasting cultural changes in management and staff behav-iour

New procedures for dealing with incidents of discrimination and com-plaints
by staff

Corporate leadership and accountability for the delivery of these out-comes.

From the outset the Dutch Equal Treatment Commission has focused
on individual cases; its first task was to place itself on the agenda
through cases involving individuals. But as part of its work is to look
more deeply at the structural aspects of discrimination, it is now in-creasingly
concentrating on providing advice as a follow-up to an
opinion, for instance by advising hotels, restaurants and discotheques
on how to avoid discriminating against people with a non-Dutch ethnic
background.

The experience of the Dutch Commission is that standard methods
are needed to measure content and achievements with regard to in-dividual
cases in order to identify broader patterns of discrimination. 97
97 Page 98 99
92 Report on the role, structure and functioning of specialised bodies to promote equality and/ or combat discrimination – Final Report
As far as the Swedish Ombudsman against Ethnic Discrimination is
concerned, it is important to gain understanding and take action that
will change the situation. Individual cases are often useful for discov-ering
general problems, such as when a Roma family was prevented
from moving to a different apartment. The family was informed that it
was impossible because there were already too many Roma in the
area they wanted to move to. This was a fairly clear case which was
filed with the police. The Swedish ethnicity DO invited the company to
a discussion on how to reach a solution for the future, with the com-pany
being asked what it would do to ensure that a similar event
would not happen again, since it had stated that the act of discrimina-tion
was not a result of company policy but of an individual employee
of the company. In its discussion with the DO the company undertook
to modify its actions to prevent a recurrence.

5.4.2. Implementation of decisions
When the Dutch Equal Treatment Commission gives a decision it re-quests
information on the action the parties intend to undertake next.
Then the Commission decides how to respond, e. g. by making a fol-low-
up appointment, providing further advice etc. In addition, the
Commission is currently focusing on whether companies have intro-duced
policies or procedures for handling complaints about discrimi-nation.
The Commission is also planning to investigate which kinds of
cases generally do or do not result in compliance with its decisions by
the parties involved. In particular, by collecting and analysing data it
hopes to discover whether there are decisions in particular types of
cases that are regularly being disobeyed.

The ODEI, as a quasi-judicial tribunal, makes legally binding deci-sions
which are enforceable by complainants and by the EA in the
Circuit Court. The EA itself, however, does not have powers in the
"follow-up" procedure. This is unlike the case of the Equality Com-mission
in Northern Ireland which has a statutory right to apply sanc-tions
such as the temporary closure of a pub that refuses to serve
members of the Travellers' community. There have not yet been any
cases in Ireland where a defendant has refused to implement a pre- 98
98 Page 99 100
93 Report on the role, structure and functioning of specialised bodies to promote equality and/ or combat discrimination – Final Report
scribed action, so whether there is a need for a strengthened role in
the implementation process remains to be seen.

5.4.3. Appealing against legally-binding decisions
An important theme is how legally-binding decisions can be appealed,
and in what circumstances. Problems can arise when there are large
differences between the principles governing the institution of first in-stance
and the appeal system.

This could for instance be the case in Ireland, where the first instance
is a quasi-judicial tribunal emphasizing an informal approach and
where cases are conducted free of charge. If appealed, the case
goes from this system to the formal courts (either the Circuit Court or
the High Court) where the case may be tried by a judge who, al-though
familiar with the equality legislation, has no special back-ground
or training in discrimination and equality issues.

Costs may be awarded in Circuit Court and High Court appeals.
However, an award of costs is a matter for the courts and in many
cases the court may make no order for costs.
The Irish institutions also commented that the traditional appeals pro-cess
took too long. There has not been sufficient experience with the
Equal Status Act to be in a position to comment on the length of time
involved in appeals to the Circuit Court.

5.5. Summary of key points – role towards direct victims of discrimination

Most of the institutions provide basic information about rights
and give advice to victims of discrimination. The study reveals
great differences in the procedures and methods of giving ad-vice,
and in the available types of assistance.

There are considerable differences among institutions as to
whether and to what degree they can assist in court cases; as
to the approach taken to their role in mediation, if any; and as
to whether the institution generally sees this as its prime role. 99
99 Page 100 101
94 Report on the role, structure and functioning of specialised bodies to promote equality and/ or combat discrimination – Final Report

Several institutions have roles in mediating or settling cases,
or in providing opinions concerning complaints about discrimi-nation.

A major strength is the provision of assistance free of charge.
This applies not only to the supply of information and advice,
but to mediation and most lawsuits.

An important related issue is whether the potential appeals
procedure operates free of charge, and how the appeals pro-cess
is organised. 
The balance of the work on individual cases versus that de-voted
to issues of institutional discrimination needs to be con-sidered
individually for each institution. 
Advice is needed not only by victims, but also by witnesses of
discrimination. 
The issue of mediation raises some important questions of
principle concerning the role of an institution in safeguarding
the law versus its role in achieving settlements. 
Settlements outside the courts are often viewed positively by
the bodies.

Legally-binding decisions which specify subsequent courses
of action can prevent further discrimination. 
It is important to make the reasoning which governs decisions
visible. This strengthens their legitimacy and makes offenders
more liable to comply with them even if no instruments of en-forcement
are available. 100
100 Page 101 102
95 Report on the role, structure and functioning of specialised bodies to promote equality and/ or combat discrimination – Final Report
6. Role and functioning in the political process
In this chapter we examine the role of the equality bodies in the politi-cal
process. The role and function of these bodies in the political pro-cess
is partly formal and partly informal.

By 'formal role' is meant a statutory right or a legally-based role in the
political process. The informal role covers roles or procedures, which
are not included in the legal basis and which occur ad hoc. However,
in practice it is hard to maintain a strict distinction between the formal
and the informal roles of the institutions.

As mentioned earlier, some of the institutions included in the study
are expert commissions designated by law as advisory to the gov-ernment
and thereby primarily provide political advice, whereas other
institutions do not have such a function. However, all the institutions
examined play some sort of role in the political process.

The present study demonstrates that the institutions' roles and func-tions
change over time, and so does their role in the political process.
Several institutions have had to prove themselves as potentially influ-ential
partners in the field before being accepted in the political proc-ess.
In addition, once they have been incorporated into the political
landscape, the institutions have frequently referred to their simultane-ous
ability to act independently while for instance also having a con-siderable
say in the drafting of legislation. Their work often involves
both a formal and an informal role in the political process.

6.1. Formal role in the political process
The formal role in the political process can take the form of active
participation in planning, drafting or commenting on legislation, as
well as monitoring practice after the legislation is implemented. 101
101 Page 102 103
96 Report on the role, structure and functioning of specialised bodies to promote equality and/ or combat discrimination – Final Report
6.1.1. Role in the legislative process
Institutions such as the Irish Equality Authority (EA), the Belgian
CECLR, the Finnish and the Swedish Ombudsmen, the Northern Ire-land
Equality Commission and the British Commission for Racial
Equality (CRE) all have a formal role in commenting on existing and
proposed legislation, including the legislation, which establishes the
institutions.

The Portuguese Commission has an explicit mandate to make rec-ommendations
for the adoption of legal measures, which are judged
necessary to prevent discriminatory practices based on race, colour,
ethnicity or origin.

The Belgian CECLR can submit recommendations to the Inter-ministerial
Conference for Immigration Policy chaired by the Belgian
Prime Minister, and it is occasionally represented in working groups
within Ministries to monitor or provide guidance on policies which are
under development, including at the European level.

The Italian Commissions appear to have been given more of a policy
preparation role, looking into the complex of broader issues in prepa-ration
for subsequent government initiatives.

Among other things, the Swedish Ombudsmen have been commis-sioned
to investigate legislative deficiencies and to present proposals
to the Government for changes in legislation, as well as provide
comments on legislative proposals.

A watchdog overseeing the implementation of rules and regulations
One of the tasks of the Swedish Disability Ombudsman is to evaluate and
disseminate information about the Standard Rules on the Equalization of
Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities adopted by the United Nations
in 1993. The Ombudsman also investigates the extent to which these
rules are generally respected and implemented, for example by govern-ment
agencies or local authorities. If the Disability Ombudsman detects
deficiencies in the current legislation concerning persons with disabilities
he makes proposals to the government for their amendment. The law on
discrimination in the workplace was established as a result of the Om- 102
102 Page 103 104
97 Report on the role, structure and functioning of specialised bodies to promote equality and/ or combat discrimination – Final Report
budsman's work in this area. In 1997 the Ombudsman conducted a survey
amongst people with disabilities. They were asked if they had encoun-tered
discrimination, and 25% answered affirmatively. The work con-ducted
by the Ombudsman thereby made visible the need for legislation in
this field.

One of the crucial questions in Ireland is whether the institution has
the right to be involved in legislation other than the primary acts. The
Equality Authority has the statutory right to be included in the review
of the two Acts directly involved in discrimination, but it is not assured
of a role in reviewing legislation beyond these two Acts, such as the
Education Act or the Health Act. The EA has the general functions to
work towards the elimination of unlawful discrimination and promote
equality of opportunity in relation to the areas covered by the em-ployment
equality and equal status legislation. Its statutory functions
also include the review of the Employment Equality and Equal Status
Acts and, if it considers it necessary, to make proposals to the Minis-ter
for Justice, Equality and Law Reform for the amendment of those
Acts. There is no statutory obligation on the Government to consult
with the Authority in relation to other legislative proposals. This may
be considered a limitation of the institution's effectiveness. Moreover,
the equality legislation has not yet been amended and it therefore
remains to be seen how much influence the EA will have in the proc-ess.

One of the institutions which has a mandate to review legislation and
propose amendments is the British Commission for Racial Equality.
By law the CRE has been furnished with a mandate to make regular
reviews of the race relations legislation, and to present proposals for
amendments. The CRE is also consulted via green and white papers
to which it makes a formal response.

Changing legislation in order to promote racial equality
In 2001 the Commission for Racial Equality in Great Britain (CRE) was
closely involved in the amendment of the 1976 Race Relations Act. The
CRE applied extensive pressure on politicians to strengthen Britain's race
relations legislation, and partly as a result the general duty mandated by
legislation passed in 2001 has made the promotion of racial equality central 103
103 Page 104 105
98 Report on the role, structure and functioning of specialised bodies to promote equality and/ or combat discrimination – Final Report
to the activities of all public authorities. The three elements of the duty
compel the public authorities to focus on the elimination of unlawful dis-crimination
and the promotion of equal opportunities and good race rela-tions.
Public authorities must take account of racial equality in their day-to-day
work of policy-making, service delivery and employment practice, amid
other functions. Codes of practice have been produced by the CRE and
have helped racial equality to become a major consideration for the bodies
which operate throughout the public sector and central government.

The French GELD does not have a formal role in providing advice on
policy, but in practice it is consulted on all legislation relating to issues
of discrimination.

In general the institutions consider the statutory right to comment on
legislation to be an asset for their role. Institutions such as the Danish
Board for Ethnic Equality, which have had to struggle to be included
in the political process, consider their subsequent involvement in con-sultations
on primary legislation to be a result of their continuing ef-forts,
despite never having achieved a greater formal role in the proc-ess.

6.1.2. Setting up monitoring systems
Another formal role can be to keep policy makers generally informed
of developments within the legislative area, or to monitor the imple-mentation
of legislation.

Developing monitoring and planning schemes
The Northern Ireland Equality Commission monitors employment policies
via obligatory annual reports from all employers employing more than 11
persons. It also monitors the development by all public authorities of a so-called
Equality Scheme stating how they propose to fulfil their duties,
which according to the Northern Ireland Act (1998) are to promote equality
of opportunity between persons of different religious beliefs, political
opinions, racial groups, ages, marital status or sexual orientation; between
men and women generally; between persons with and without a disability;
and between persons with and without dependants.

The French regional CODACs are involved in the assessment of local 104
104 Page 105 106
99 Report on the role, structure and functioning of specialised bodies to promote equality and/ or combat discrimination – Final Report
needs and the subsequent development of regional integration plans
which the government has decided must be developed.

These monitoring roles are frequently seen as valuable by the institu-tions
because they give them legitimate entry into discussions con-cerning
the implementation and follow-up of existing legislation.

Other approaches to monitoring, not necessarily focussing on the im-plementation
and effects of legislation, could also be adopted by spe-cialised
bodies in the future.

6.2. Informal roles in the political process
The majority of institutions have a role in the political process, which
is broader than the one outlined in their statute. Their informal roles in
the political process include being asked to present views to parlia-mentary
committees and lobbying the administration and government
concerning certain legislation. By 'informal' we also include ad hoc
involvement in consultation procedures and the issuing of govern-ment
consultation papers.

6.2.1. Informal consultative roles
Often institutions are represented in working groups or ministerial ad-visory
committees in order to provide guidance on the preparation of
legislative initiatives and to comment on draft legislation. As men-tioned
earlier, organisations with no statutory right to be included in
legislative preparations often receive draft legislation for consideration
nevertheless.

Representatives of the bodies may also sometimes be invited to sit in
on governmental preparatory commissions in order to provide expert 105
105 Page 106 107
100 Report on the role, structure and functioning of specialised bodies to promote equality and/ or combat discrimination – Final Report
guidance or input in the process of developing new legislation or new
approaches to issues or activities related to equal treatment.

Experts in an advisory role
The Commission for Integration Policies in Italy is a governmental consulta-tive
body, which works not only with discrimination but also with integration
in a broader sense. The Commissioners were not reappointed after their first
three-year term expired in the summer of 2001. Therefore, the Commission
does not in practice exist at the moment. However, the Commission oper-ated
as an expert group having an advisory role vis-à-vis the government.
Because the topic of integration is quite new in Italy there was an immediate
need to establish a basis for understanding immigration, such as through
conducting surveys and initiating research on the topic. The 20 members of
the Commission belonged to a variety of institutions and organisations as
well as to ministries. They were involved in various capacities in fields such
as law, economy, demography etc. The Commissioners met once a month
and were supported by a secretariat comprising four staff.

In some cases, institutions may be invited to provide information to
parliamentary committees. For instance, the Belgian CECLR has
been invited to attend the Senate three times during the past year in
order to explain its views on the draft of the new anti-discrimination
legislation.

While some institutions are included in the political process in various
ways, some are not so directly involved in policy-making. An alterna-tive
means for such institutions to influence policy may be to present
cases to UN institutions or national ombudsmen.

For instance, the Danish Advisory and Documentation Centre on Ra-cial
Discrimination (DRC-DK) has presented eight cases to the UN
Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. In two cases
the Committee criticized the Danish Government, and Danish legisla-tion
was consequently changed.

Informal contacts
The Swedish Ombudsman Against Discrimination Because of Sexual Ori-entation
(HomO) has contacted the different ministers to discuss what they
and the government might do in each area in order to ensure equal treat- 106
106 Page 107 108
101 Report on the role, structure and functioning of specialised bodies to promote equality and/ or combat discrimination – Final Report
ment irrespective of sexual orientation. This has often been followed up by
civil servants initiating more concrete actions together with the HomO.

Thematic reports or special surveys in the annual reports of the insti-tutions
which are presented to the government frequently also provide
advice to it on how to amend existing legislation, or to suggest which
areas should be focused on. Likewise, some institutions monitor how
often politicians refer to their reports or documentation during parlia-mentary
proceedings, and thereby make an informal assessment of
the importance of their own role in the political decision-making proc-ess.

6.2.2. Influencing the institutions' own scope
A few institutions have had a political role in the development of their
own mandate. These institutions may have been established due to
pressure from existing organisations, which found that such an insti-tution
was lacking, as in the case of the Dutch Expertise Centre on
Age and Society (LBL). The existing organisations have thereby had
a say in formulating the scope and work of the new institution through
highlighting the problem of the previous lack of such an institution.

Initiatives from existing organisations
The Dutch Expertise Centre on Age and Society (LBL) was established in
1994 because of serious concerns about the problem of ageism and age
discrimination. It was the National Advisory Council on Policy for the Eld-erly
together with older people's unions, which emphasised the necessity
of a national office to combat age discrimination. Accordingly the Dutch
Department of Health, Welfare and Sports decided that a national office
would be established for a period of four years. The LBL aims to chal-lenge
the negative stereotyping of people because of their age, to place
the issue of age discrimination high on the public and political agenda,
and to set out options for change. As well as investigating the legal and
social aspects of age discrimination, the LBL has been encouraging de-bate
on the issue of age limits in laws and regulations. Once the office
had proved itself to be necessary, it gained permanent status from the
beginning of 1998. 107
107 Page 108 109
102 Report on the role, structure and functioning of specialised bodies to promote equality and/ or combat discrimination – Final Report
Some of the institutions were established following a change in the
role of previous institutions working with immigrants or foreigners.
This is the case with the German Commissioner for Foreigners' Af-fairs
and for the Finnish Ombudsman, for instance. In these two
cases the scope of the former institutions working with issues con-cerning
foreign citizens has been expanded to include matters related
to various ethnic groups and discrimination because of race or eth-nicity,
thereby broadening the overall scope of these institutions.

Shifting concepts and legal positions: From "foreigners" to "integra-tion"
For many years Germany defined itself as a non-immigrant country and
supported return programmes. But the term 'foreigner' is now perceived
to be problematic, and with the new Berlin federal state government, the
Commissioner of Foreigners' Affairs of the Berlin Senate is to be re-named
the Commissioner for Integration and Migration. The change of
name reflects a change in the mode of thinking.

In Finland the office of the Ombudsman for Foreigners was set up by law
in 1991. In 1999 the Ministry of Labour appointed a special investigator to
prepare proposals for changing the post of Ombudsman for Foreigners
and expanding its functions. This brought about the establishment of the
Ombudsman for Minorities (affiliated to the Ministry of Labour) in 2001.
The former activity areas of the Ombudsman for Foreigners were trans-ferred
to the Ombudsman for Minorities.

The above examples illustrate that the institutions are seldom static in
their nature, but that aims and tasks change both with the political
agenda and the societal focus and understanding of questions related
to race, ethnicity and discrimination.

Another example is the French CODACs, which from the outset were
intended to promote the integration of young people with non-French
ethnic backgrounds, but which have subsequently been working to
improve conditions for all immigrants and citizens with non-French
ethnic backgrounds. 108
108 Page 109 110
103 Report on the role, structure and functioning of specialised bodies to promote equality and/ or combat discrimination – Final Report
6.3. Summary of key points – political process
 The majority of the institutions have either a formal or an in-formal
role in the political process. 
The institutions are typically consulted on legislation related to
discrimination. 
Some organisations also sit on government committees for
the preparation of new legislation. 
Some organisations have a formalised role in regularly re-viewing
the legislation defining the role and competences of
the their own organisations, thus ensuring that the organisa-tion
is given a prominent role in legislative revisions. 109
109 Page 110 111
104 Report on the role, structure and functioning of specialised bodies to promote equality and/ or combat discrimination – Final Report
7. Role and functioning in dissemination of
information, research and awareness building

A significant proportion of the institutions have set themselves the im-portant
function of providing information and conducting research on
discrimination in general. The institutions' role is thereby broadened
in various ways, ranging from conducting or commissioning studies
and publishing the results to making recommendations directed at
several target levels, or providing training, raising awareness via the
media or campaigns, or acting as a network-building institution.
These functions often stem from the explicit goals of quite a few of
the institutions to promote equality in broader terms and to take the
initiative in driving forward the equality agenda.

In this chapter we shall examine these aspects of the institutions un-der
the following four overall headings:

Studies and written documentation

Anti-discrimination training

Campaigning

Co-operation

7.1. Studies and written documentation
According to the new EU directive, the Member States must have in-stitutions
that in addition to providing independent assistance to vic-tims
will conduct independent surveys concerning discrimination,
publish independent reports and make recommendations.

A substantial number of the institutions are already involved in vari-ous
areas of dissemination, research and awareness building:

Information about legislation and rights (as discussed in
Chapter 5)

Conducting or commissioning independent surveys and re-ports

Making recommendations 110
110 Page 111 112
105 Report on the role, structure and functioning of specialised bodies to promote equality and/ or combat discrimination – Final Report

Conducting or commissioning training or training material

Awareness building and campaigns

7.1.1. Dissemination of information
The institutions have various ways of disseminating information to the
general public or specific target groups. These are frequently printed
publications, such as opinions, statements, comments on legislation,
which are often made available on the Internet. In fact, most institu-tions
attach much importance to having a well-designed and easily-accessible
website for providing general information regarding dis-crimination,
in addition to specific information about the options avail-able
to victims of discrimination, such as whom to contact, one's
rights and so forth.

Providing access to information
The Dutch National Bureau against Racial Discrimination (LBR) has an
accessible documentation and information centre which specializes in
combating racial discrimination and encouraging good inter-ethnic rela-tions.
The documentation centre contains more than 20,000 titles from
home and abroad. The collection of the LBR documentation centre can
also be accessed remotely. The entire LBR collection is described and
recorded in the LBR database which can be examined at various locations
in the country, for example at most Anti-Discrimination Agencies, and is
also accessible via the LBR's website. The LBR also maintains a data-base
of case law in the area of racial discrimination. This case law infor-mation
is available to third parties with the permission of the LBR's legal
advisors.

One challenge when communicating with the general public is that of
making legal opinions comprehensible to those who are not mem-bers
of the legal profession or professionals with a background in
equal treatment. The statements and opinions need to be phrased in
terms capable of generating interest among the general public. 111
111 Page 112 113
106 Report on the role, structure and functioning of specialised bodies to promote equality and/ or combat discrimination – Final Report
A number of institutions try to provide systematic information on case
law. They often make accessible former rulings and settlements in
databases internally or on their websites, as for instance is the case
in Ireland. But they often encounter problems in establishing an
automatic flow of information concerning past rulings and case law.
The Irish ODEI -equality tribunal has details on its Website
(www. odei. ie) of all findings by Equality Officers from 1996 to date. A
summary of cases is also published each year in its annual report.
Similarly, the Dutch Equal Treatment Commission publishes regular
bulletins on recent cases of wider interest.

Often the institutions depend on other organisations for their flow of
information. This generally requires a well-developed relationship of
co-operation with the courts that does not always exist. The British
CRE says that it can be difficult to establish a regular flow, and in
Belgium this issue is to be addressed by including it as a specific ob-ligation
in the new legislation which is planned.

Whereas the ombudsman institutions in Sweden can mostly provide
up-to-date information on the number and content of cases brought to
them, it is harder for them to provide an overview of the cases pre-sented
to the police, as the flow of information is not always active. In
Sweden the police publishes the number of cases reported to it an-nually,
but it is not possible to have more frequent updates of the
numbers of cases relating to specific issues or grounds of discrimina-tion.

Apart from distributing information on equal treatment and on legal
cases, a number of institutions provide information in order to create
a more positive attitude towards those who experience discrimination.
One example is the production of material that contradicts prevailing
negative images and makes available information about various dif-ferent
cultural backgrounds. 112
112 Page 113 114
107 Report on the role, structure and functioning of specialised bodies to promote equality and/ or combat discrimination – Final Report
Promoting positive images
The Dutch National Bureau against Racial Discrimination (LBR) produces
a small wall newspaper every other month. The idea is to portray positive
stories. The newspaper is designed for waiting rooms, schools, etc. It al-ways
contains positive news about multi-cultural lifestyles and people liv-ing
together plus other useful information which is scattered throughout
small articles, and with jokes, cartoons etc. to make it more accessible.
LBR sends this to about 1000-1200 organisations and individuals.

7.1.2. Conducting or commissioning surveys and reports
Undertaking studies, writing reports containing detailed documenta-tion,
and providing subsequent recommendations for desirable
change are important tools for most of the bodies dealing with equal
treatment. The collation of data, new juxtapositions of facts or the
collection of completely new data can bring to the forefront issues of
discrimination which have hitherto not been discerned.

None of the institutions carries out systematic reviews of the discrimi-nation
and equality situation in its respective country, but some of the
institutions plan to move in that direction eventually. The Berlin Com-missioner
already conducts an annual mini-survey of attitudes to-wards
migrants and foreigners. The survey is based on a representa-tive
sample of 1000 persons. The questions asked each year are es-sentially
the same, and the results are publicised in an annual press
statement.

All the institutions included in this study (except the quasi-judicial in-stitution
ODEI) carry out research and studies on one or more specific
grounds or themes.

Some organisations undertake their own research, but many of them
prefer to commission universities or research institutes to conduct it.
This is the case with the British Commission for Racial Equality
(CRE), for instance.

Others, like the Dutch Expertise Centre for Age and Society (LBL),
seek out surveys and research covering the topics they are interested
in, then make this information available on their website. Sometimes 113
113 Page 114 115
108 Report on the role, structure and functioning of specialised bodies to promote equality and/ or combat discrimination – Final Report
the LBL conducts research. Furthermore it points at further essential
research to be carried out and tries to persuade others to conduct it.
Often the extent to which the institutions are directly involved in sur-veys
and research are dictated by financial resources.

Some institutions, like the Equality Authority in Ireland, are in the pro-cess
of establishing a longer-term research programme which defines
criteria for strategic themes and projects. The approach is to combine
urgent themes suggested by current events and demands on the one
hand, with a more strategic plan which gives structure to the focus of
the institution and the use of its resources on the other hand.

Some of the institutions, e. g. the Dutch Equal Treatment Commission
and the Swedish Ombudsmen, try instead to bring together the gen-eral
themes derived from the individual judgements or opinions they
produce. They may undertake investigations on their own initiative
when they find several individual cases casting light on discrimination
in a specific field, and will highlight more general issues of discrimina-tion
on the basis of these investigations.

The staff at the Equal Treatment Commission emphasise that in order
to be able to detect more general patterns of discrimination, aspects
of structural discrimination and themes which need to be examined
further, an analysis and investigation of individual cases is necessary.
In order to localise these patterns it is important to structure the avail-able
information, for instance according to the nature of the discrimi-nation
and the case types, in order to make it suitable for further
analysis. This requires tools, information systems and databases.
Thus in the highly sophisticated web-based search infrastructure of
the Dutch Equal Treatment Commission, it is possible to search
through the opinions (Oordelen) which the Commission has delivered.

7.1.3. Making recommendations based on the studies
Investigations and surveys of discrimination based on a broader per-spective
(as opposed to individual cases) often lead an institution to
provide recommendations or opinions based on its findings. Given
that the role of several institutions is to identify and assess deficits in 114
114 Page 115 116
109 Report on the role, structure and functioning of specialised bodies to promote equality and/ or combat discrimination – Final Report
existing legislation, their recommendations are often directed at the
level of the policy-makers.

Recommendations can also be directed at a specific firm, as is some-times
the case when the Dutch Equal Treatment Commission in-cludes
recommendations in its opinions. For example, it can be diffi-cult
to prove that racial discrimination has taken place in employment.
The Commission might have the feeling that there is a racist climate
in the workplace as a whole, but without being able to give a firm
opinion as to whether or not the law has actually been violated. In
such instances the Commissioners can choose to recommend that
the company in question should establish procedures for dealing with
cases of discrimination which are motivated by race or ethnicity. The
Commission believes that its recommendations can be helpful in
translating abstract legal norms into concrete practice and thereby
contribute to the effectiveness of the equal treatment legislation.

The studies of the Equality Authority (EA) in Ireland aim to provide
guidelines and recommendations at both the political, organisational
and personal levels. In addition to the studies which they either com-mission
or carry out themselves, the EA prepares publications focus-ing
exclusively on the establishment of codes of practice or guidelines
in specific areas. Two examples are 'The code of practice on sexual
harassment and harassment at work' and 'Guidelines for Employment
Equality Policies in Enterprises', both prepared in co-operation with
various Government Departments and organisations. Especially the
latter guide emphasizes the provision of concrete examples of an
equality policy and an anti-discrimination approach in various areas,
i. e. recruitment, advertising, interviews, job orientation and career
progression. The impression created in our interviews is that both the
EA and the organisations involved see these publications as a useful
tool for putting the issue of equality on the agenda and providing help
to companies to reduce discriminatory practices. The Northern Ireland
Equality Commission and the British CRE take a similar approach.

On its own initiative the Equal Treatment Commission in the Nether-lands
investigated practices relating to in vitro fertilisation. Because 115
115 Page 116 117
110 Report on the role, structure and functioning of specialised bodies to promote equality and/ or combat discrimination – Final Report
some clinics only made the treatment available to heterosexual cou-ples,
the Commission found that single persons and homosexual
couples were being discriminated against by those particular clinics.
The Commission gave its decision and received a response from the
relevant minister.

The rules and practices which have been amended following the
opinions of the Commission include changes in the selection proce-dures
of some larger companies in order to avoid sex discrimination,
the inclusion of same-sex partners in the travel benefits of employees
of the National Railway Company, and revised banking procedures
for extending credit to non-residents.

The effect of the non-discrimination notice which can be issued by the
British CRE has already been mentioned previously.

7.1.4. Summary of key points – studies
 Most institutions apply a fairly broad range of information

strategies in the course of their work. 
Any absence of studies stems mostly from a lack of re-sources,
not the lack of a desire or perceived need to conduct
surveys. 
Independent surveys can take individual cases, a specific
theme or perceived patterns of discrimination as their point of
departure. 
The criteria for selecting areas for study and research are of-ten
based on perceptions of where there is a scarcity of spe-cific
information, where the greatest impact can be achieved,
or where a specific need has arisen, for instance in response
to a specific case or media coverage. 
There is seldom an overall national plan governing any in-tended
future surveys or research. 
Recommendations which follow on from investigations can fo-cus
on specific organisations, on societal areas, or on the
broader national level. 116
116 Page 117 118
111 Report on the role, structure and functioning of specialised bodies to promote equality and/ or combat discrimination – Final Report
 Codes of practice, guidelines and recommendations are con-sidered
helpful by institutions and organisations in reducing
discriminatory practices.

7.2. Anti-discrimination training
The institutions take part in various forms of employee training for
public authorities, companies, social partners, stakeholders and po-tential
victims of discrimination.
Training can be more or less formalized. Often the institutions provide
training through information-giving and discussions on the laws gov-erning
the field of equal treatment.

In general the institutions conduct four different kinds of training:

Curriculum development

Production of training material

Provision of training and training methodology

Training of trainers

Over the years several of the institutions have gained considerable
experience in anti-discrimination and equality training. Thus the
Swedish Ombudsman Against Discrimination Because of Sexual Ori-entation
and the Ombudsman against Ethnic Discrimination, the
Dutch National Bureau Against Racial Discrimination, the Dutch
Equal Treatment Commission, the German Commissioner of For-eigners'
Affairs at the Berlin Senate, the Danish Board for Ethnic
Equality, the Luxembourg Commission and the Belgian CECLR are
all actively involved with training.

The Belgian CECLR provides an example of the development of ap-proaches
to training, with its training methodology evolving over time
in response to lessons learned and the continuous changes taking
place in society. Its initial efforts focused on sensitising the trainees –
mainly police officers – to multi-cultural issues. So the emphasis then
was on providing information and creating opportunities for dialogue.
More latterly, the focus of the training has switched from anti-discrimination
training towards diversity management and inter- 117
117 Page 118 119
112 Report on the role, structure and functioning of specialised bodies to promote equality and/ or combat discrimination – Final Report
cultural communication. While anti-discrimination training may still be
provided to certain groups, the majority of the training effort (including
methodology development) focuses on the latter areas. Often people
are unaware that they are breaking the law, for instance interpreting
the requirements of the law in a non-fulfilling way. Current discrimi-natory
practices are often revealed through discussions with the in-stitutions.
This often inspires those committing them to learn more
about the law and how to prevent future violations, which then creates
an opportunity for more or less formalised training activities. However,
new subjects such as diversity management may have a tendency to
remove the focus from the more 'traditional' groups with more 'tradi-tional'
sensitisation needs. This has been an issue within CECLR,
where the training section is continuously discussing how to prioritise
training efforts and which groups to target.

Summary of training experiences
Having conducted training for around 10 years, the CECLR stands out as
one of the more experienced organisations within this field. Some of the key
issues identified by the CECLR may be summarised:
A joint training vision – it is important that all levels of the organisations to
which the training is provided share the same training vision.
Voluntary participation – all participation must be free and voluntary. The
management of an organisation should not force employees to participate
against their will.
Knowledge of the organisation which is to be trained – the targeted or-ganisation
and its employees must be viewed as a unit. The CECLR has
made a practice of visiting the organisation concerned prior to the training in
order to acquire a better understanding of the setting in which the trainees
operate on a day-to-day basis.
Benefits of including local stakeholders – as part of its police training the
CECLR will often invite local stakeholders, such as representatives from im-migrant
cultural centres and/ or mosques, to participate in (parts of) the
training in order to enhance dialogue and facilitate communication at the lo-cal
level.
No taboos – the training is based on completely free speech: anything can
be said and all opinions are respected, which is not to say that all points of
view are accepted. Establishing a forum where all opinions may be voiced is
part of the process of 'wiping the slate clean' and creating a space for bot-tled-
up feelings and sentiments.
Confidentiality – when anything can be said, confidentiality is important. 118
118 Page 119 120
113 Report on the role, structure and functioning of specialised bodies to promote equality and/ or combat discrimination – Final Report
Realism of expectations – as part of creating the context for the training,
the CECLR seeks to adjust the expectations which exist within the organisa-tion
being trained. It is important to understand that training for behavioural
change is a long-term process.

7.2.1. Production of training material
Several institutions concentrate on the development of training mate-rial
and tool kits.

Indeed, some organisations regard it as a strategic choice whether to
be involved in the provision of large-scale training, or instead to pro-duce
training material and methodologies to be used by other organi-sations.
The British Commission for Racial Equality (CRE) can illus-trate
this point: 40, 000 public bodies and authorities must comply with
the new law on statutory duty which was introduced in the revised
Race Relations Act. With a staff of only 200 there is no possibility
whatever of the CRE being able to provide the necessary training.
Instead the CRE has participated in the planning of the training ap-proach
recommended, and the training itself will be contract-based
and managed by the individual public authorities.

Contributions to the development of curricula are often made in the
context of more general training activities for particular groups such
as police officers or magistrates. Several organisations such as the
French GELD, the Belgian CECLR and the Luxembourg Commission
have been actively involved in training courses for police officers, and
the Belgian CECLR has a fixed long-term contract with the Belgian
state to provide training courses to young magistrates as part of their
education.

Supplementing training
The British Commission for Racial Equality does not provide training as
such, but undertakes a number of activities to support race relations training.
The CRE has commissioned consultants to conduct a review of government
departments to assess their training needs in relation to the new statutory
duty, and to draw up specifications for the training required. The CRE is de-veloping
a core training package which will also include advice on the hiring
of external trainers. This is available from its website. The CRE also issues 119
119 Page 120 121
114 Report on the role, structure and functioning of specialised bodies to promote equality and/ or combat discrimination – Final Report
codes of practice and racial equality standards to help organisations to de-velop
fair policies, procedures and practices. In addition the CRE advises
employers, local authorities, housing, health and education authorities, the
police, training bodies and other agencies on how to avoid discrimination
and promote equality.

7.2.2. Provision of training and training methodology
Some institutions provide training by request only and on a fully-funded
basis, while others organise training campaigns which are tar-geted
to specific audiences and provided free of charge.

While free training based on training campaigns directed towards
specific audiences may intuitively seem more efficient, the question
appears to be more complex. Interestingly, the Belgian CECLR
changed its approach following its experiences with the training of
police officers.

Tailored training
The Belgian CECLR reconsidered its approach to training following a criti-cal
assessment of the Centre's training of police officers, among others.
Its conclusion was that off-the-shelf theory-based training in non-discrimination
and the safeguarding of people's rights was perceived as
antagonistic by the police officers, who defended their approach and criti-cized
the training for not taking into account the reality in the field. As a
consequence the CECLR's training is now exclusively tailored to its audi-ence,
and a key concern is to cater first for the problems that the trainees
themselves perceive in their own daily work before commencing discus-sions
on discrimination and new approaches.

The CECLR has also started to demand reimbursement for its training
courses, which were initially provided free of charge. Evaluations have
shown that counterparts requesting training consider their motivations
more carefully and are more eager to ensure proper attendance when
they incur the costs of the training.

Much of the training provided by the institutions includes general
awareness-building and sensitisation to various issues of multi- 120
120 Page 121 122
115 Report on the role, structure and functioning of specialised bodies to promote equality and/ or combat discrimination – Final Report
culturalism. For instance, the Berlin Commissioner, together with an
NGO representing migrants, organises regular meetings between mi-grant
groups and young police officers in order to exchange views
and improve mutual understanding.

Training policemen
The Advisory and Documentation Centre in Denmark has been running a
course for policemen. As a consequence of its work the police department
in Copenhagen is now actively working on a strategic plan for its approach
to minorities in Denmark. It has prepared a policy for tackling conflict and
taking control without discrimination.

The purpose of the training is not confined to the communication of
knowledge of laws and regulations or the changing of attitudes
among those involved in the training. As part of the refinement of their
training methodologies, some institutions such as the CECLR distin-guish
between training and sensitisation. The latter is perceived as
being a public relations rather than a training task. Within the CECLR,
transmitting information to school children about different religions
and cultures is perceived as sensitisation and will normally be carried
out by the PR department, whereas efforts focusing on behavioural
change will remain with the training department.

The Dutch National Bureau Against Racial Discrimination has, like the
Belgian CECLR, developed co-operation with schools on how to
combat discrimination, and among other things it has established
panels to assess the materials used in primary schools.

Schools without racism
The Dutch National Bureau Against Racial Discrimination, LBR, has estab-lished
a movement called "Schools Without Racism". Schools that join the
movement are provided with opportunities and resources to address and
combat racism. The LBR has also established an education panel that as-sesses
the teaching and project material of the LBR's documentation centre
in terms of its practical usefulness. With the assistance of the panel, the
LBR staff gives advice to teachers and other clients using the LBR's materi-als. 121
121 Page 122 123
116 Report on the role, structure and functioning of specialised bodies to promote equality and/ or combat discrimination – Final Report
The CECLR training methodology has been developed over time as a
result of a learning-by-doing process in which its training has been
adapted and modified in response to the evaluations of previous
training events. Thus the CECLR is renowned for adapting to the
specific needs of each recipient audience. The flexible approach and
results of the CECLR's training are generally considered successful
by the organisation's counterparts. This view is supported by the fact
that the CECLR receives far more requests for its training than it can
currently accommodate.

Training employees in temporary staff agency
The CECLR has recently provided training to the employees of a temporary
staff agency. The staff wished to improve their skills in meeting and inter-viewing
people with different cultural backgrounds. Significantly, they also
requested assistance in developing suitable responses to those groups of
potential employers which applied more or less overt pressure on them to
exclude people of certain origins etc. when recommending candidates for
temporary vacancies in their firms.

Training for daily experience
The LBR arranges role-play training sessions in order to rehearse actual
situations. The training focuses on the situations and conversations repre-senting
the daily experiences of those participating in the session, in
which they are for instance confronted with the prejudices, doubts and the
defective understanding of relationships manifested by some colleagues
or by clients of a different ethnic background.

7.2.3. Training of trainers
Most of the institutions place an emphasis on providing training that
involves more persons than the immediate target group. Examples
are: training teachers who can convey their knowledge to pupils,
training trade union representatives so that they can work proactively
against discrimination, or training key administrative staff so that an
equal treatment perspective can be integrated into their administrative
practices. 122
122 Page 123 124
117 Report on the role, structure and functioning of specialised bodies to promote equality and/ or combat discrimination – Final Report
The institutions often apply cascade methodology, the purpose of
which is to train trainers to train others so as to make the most of the
available resources.

Training of trainers
Training of trainers (ToT) has been a part of the training activities of the Bel-gian
CECLR for some time. With only 10 trainers, all of them in great de-mand,
the ToT model ensures greater outreach and impact. The CECLR first
conducted ToT for instructors in police schools, and since then has also
trained army instructors, social workers and others.

Likewise, the Swedish Ombudsman Against Ethnic Discrimination
focuses on educating those who can educate others. For instance,
when providing training to trade unions and employers' organisations
the DO is careful to ensure that such efforts have a multiplier effect.
For the DO it is also a question of building capacity within the trade
unions so that they can handle cases of discrimination without the
DO's assistance.

The French GELD organises training for those managing the Depart-mental
CODAC offices. In turn these provide training to the people
who comprise the Department's network of people to whom cases are
referred.

7.2.4. Summary of key points -training
 Some organisations have refined their training methodologies

over the years. 
Other institutions have made a strategic choice not to provide
training but to concentrate on the development of training
materials and the supply of advice on training methodology. 
Increasingly, training to traditional groups such as the police
force is being supplemented by experience-based training to
companies and groups of individuals. 
Training often has goals extending beyond the group of peo-ple
who are participating in the training, through focusing on
the training of people who can train others. 123
123 Page 124 125
118 Report on the role, structure and functioning of specialised bodies to promote equality and/ or combat discrimination – Final Report
 Training is often tailored to take into account the everyday ex-periences
of the target group.

7.3. Campaigning
The majority of the institutions do not invest resources in large-scale
campaigns. This is either because they do not have access to the re-sources
required, or because such campaigns are not considered
cost-effective.

However, organisations such as the British Commission for Racial
Equality and the Disability Rights Commission organise high-profile
campaigns annually. The CLCLR in Belgium also occasionally con-ducts
large-scale campaigns which include radio and TV spots.

This section discusses both these more substantial campaigns and
other methods of changing attitudes and public opinion.

7.3.1. Changing general attitudes and public opinion
The very existence of specific institutions capable of drawing attention
to issues of discrimination appears to influence both the public debate
and the public perception of discrimination and equal treatment.

As mentioned earlier, changes in general attitudes and public opinion
can be achieved through generating debate in the media, conducting
training sessions, and influencing public opinion via investigations
and recommendations.

However, most organisations also recognise the need to ensure that
they are clearly identifiable to the public. One concern is to ensure
that potential victims of discrimination know of the organisation's ex-istence,
and are aware of their rights and the availability of the sup-port
offered by the organisation. 124
124 Page 125 126
119 Report on the role, structure and functioning of specialised bodies to promote equality and/ or combat discrimination – Final Report
Some organisations, such as the British CRE, organise broader pub-lic
campaigns which highlight a key message of the organisation and
at the same time make people aware of its existence.

Large-scale public campaigns
The CRE runs public education campaigns to raise awareness of race
issues and encourage organisations and individuals to play their part in
creating a just society.

Roughly one campaign is organised each year. In 2000, the CRE ar-ranged
a public campaign with posters, postcards and occasional TV and
cinema advertisements called "Would I?", where famous British people
from all walks of life changed colour before viewers' eyes, in order to high-light
the inanity of discrimination. For example, London's Mayor Ken Liv-ingstone
appeared as if he were Asian, asking, "Would I have won?".

The Belgian CECLR organised a campaign around the time of the
2000 European Football Championship in which it used TV spots and
other devices to draw attention to racism in sports.

The British DRC has also organised several national campaigns such
as the 'Educating for Equality' campaign, which aimed to ensure that
everyone would benefit from the new legislation which provides pro-tection
for children and students with disabilities in all aspects of edu-cational
life.

Also of note was the 'Actions Speak Louder Than Words' Campaign.
This campaign called on leaders in the worlds of business, entertain-ment,
sport and politics to make a practical long-lasting commitment
to enabling people with disabilities to participate fully in society.

Apart from large-scale campaigns and general participation in public
debate, some institutions have established special events for raising
awareness of issues of discrimination. One example is the 'Race in
the Media Award' by the British CRE. 125
125 Page 126 127
120 Report on the role, structure and functioning of specialised bodies to promote equality and/ or combat discrimination – Final Report
Race in the Media Award
The annual Race in the Media Awards gives prizes to encourage informed
media coverage of race relations. This high-profile event has been organ-ised
by the British Commission for Racial Equality every year since 1992,
and is sponsored by leading British newspapers.

Other organisations concentrate on targeted events, such as the
Danish Board for Ethnic Equality's 'baton conference', which it or-ganises
every year. At the conference, batons are given to compa-nies,
municipalities, organisations or state institutions, which thereby
take on the obligation to work to promote ethnic equality and combat
discrimination inside their particular organisation.

Other institutions seek to attract public attention and place issues on
the agenda through particular events. The Swedish Ombudsman
Against Discrimination Because of Sexual Orientation, HomO, gives
great emphasis to actively participating in public discussions in news-papers,
on television and among the public at large, displaying both
knowledge and professionalism in order to create respect for people
who might otherwise be subject to considerable prejudice. Creating
visibility for a group is one of the anti-discrimination strategies.

The Dutch National Bureau against Racial Discrimination organises
media events to combat prejudice in the media. At a national level,
the event "the Silver Zebra" award is organised annually. This in-volves
an award for the best media production about the multicultural
society. One of the criteria is that the nominated production should
show multicultural society in a critical, inventive way.

Changing public attitudes
The Swedish Ombudsman Against Discrimination Because of Sexual Ori-entation
has among other things created a network of homosexual and
transsexual policemen, and the Head of the armed forces has held a
press conference to publicise the network of homo-and transsexual
members of the armed forces. Initiatives such as these have encouraged
a much more open discussion of sexual orientation. 126
126 Page 127 128
121 Report on the role, structure and functioning of specialised bodies to promote equality and/ or combat discrimination – Final Report
Institutions such as the Danish Board, the Italian Commission, the
British CRE, the Belgian CECLR, the Irish Equality Authority and sev-eral
others all consider it a major sign of success that they have man-aged
to place discrimination and equality on the public and political
agenda, and regard it as a great achievement that racial and ethnic
discrimination is now increasingly being discussed at the political
level and by the public.

7.3.2. Specific campaigns
Some institutions are already campaigning in preparation for the im-plementation
of the directives based on Article 13 of the Amsterdam
Treaty. For instance, the Berlin Commissioner is campaigning among
other departments and organisations like housing agencies and dis-cotheques
to prepare them for the changes which Article 13 will in-volve.

Other institutions campaign in relation to new national legislation in
order to provide information about it and how it will influence specific
areas, as well as explaining how to work proactively against discrimi-nation.

Other proactive campaigns may be directed at specific groups in so-ciety,
e. g. employers or public authorities, but not always quite with
the hoped-for success.

Proactive campaigning
The Swedish Ombudsman Against Ethnic Discrimination has been conduct-ing
a proactive campaign on employment directed at companies in order to
discourage discrimination. It is being run as a media campaign, and includes
the opportunity of contacting the DO for information and setting up appoint-ments
to talk to him. However, the DO's experience has been that the enter-prises
have not asked for this information to the extent expected. The DO
has also travelled around the country to conduct sessions with companies in
order to raise awareness of their obligations and provide examples of how to
meet them. 127
127 Page 128 129
122 Report on the role, structure and functioning of specialised bodies to promote equality and/ or combat discrimination – Final Report
7.3.3. Creating visibility in the media
Some institutions are not involved in campaigning as such, but once
or twice a year they intensify their media profile in order to promote
themselves, their activities, and the legislation and the rights they are
working for.

Publicity in relation to court rulings or the issuing of legal opinions
through carefully planned exposure in the media can also be used to
publicise an institution and its concerns to policy makers and the pub-lic.
For instance, the Swedish Ombudsman Against Discrimination
Because of Sexual Orientation actively makes use of the media in
presenting his opinions, and has thereby succeeded in raising the
profile of the issue.

The strategic use of newspapers can also be the result of initiatives
from the media. For instance, in the Netherlands some newspapers
and specialist magazines have asked the Equal Treatment Commis-sion
to submit its opinions concerning specific grounds of discrimina-tion
or discrimination in specific areas of society on a continuous ba-sis.

7.3.4. Summary of key points -campaigning
 Huge media campaigns are too costly for many of the institu-tions

surveyed, and are seen by some as not always being the
most useful tools. 
However, some organisations do run large-scale campaigns
to raise awareness of their concerns and remind potential vic-tims
of the existence of specialised institutions which can help
them. 
Media exposure of verdicts and individual cases can be a
mechanism for awareness-raising. 
One of the main achievements of the institutions is that they
have managed to place discrimination and equality on the
public and political agenda. 128
128 Page 129 130
123 Report on the role, structure and functioning of specialised bodies to promote equality and/ or combat discrimination – Final Report
7.4. Co-operation with other organisations, civil society and social partners
All of the institutions are involved in co-operation with other organisa-tions,
NGOs and governmental bodies in one way or other. Some
also include potentially discriminated-against groups in their work.

7.4.1. Network-building institutions
The objectives of some institutions specify that they should maintain
relations with relevant institutions working within their field, i. e. NGOs,
associations, etc. For instance, one of the objectives of the Dutch
LBL is to initiate actions and stimulate co-operation with organisations
to combat age discrimination. The same applies to most of the other
organisations, whether or not they have explicitly said so.

The French CODAC in particular acts as a network-building institution
for its partners, and provides an annual forum for the exchange of ex-periences
and information. The intention is to make the forces in civil
society actively work with the public administration to promote inte-gration
and combat discrimination via regular working groups which
typically deal with labour market integration, education, housing and
other social conditions, and access to justice.

The Swedish Disability Ombudsman institution is instructed in its
statute to maintain contacts with businesses and to encourage the
private sector to pay appropriate attention to disability issues. Ac-cording
to the Swedish action plan on accessibility, the Disability Om-budsman
is responsible for the co-ordination of these activities. Twice
a year the Ombudsman meets with all the officially-recognised dis-ability
organisations which receive state subsidies to exchange views
and information. 129
129 Page 130 131
124 Report on the role, structure and functioning of specialised bodies to promote equality and/ or combat discrimination – Final Report
The chairman of the Portuguese Commission, being also the High
Commissioner for Immigrants and Minorities, has a broad co-ordination
role relating to all parts of the state administration, and is a
member of a very large number of organisations and commissions
dealing with issues related to minorities and migrants. This provides a
particular example of bringing together information from representa-tives
of a broad variety of ethnic minority groups and other groups
vulnerable to discrimination.

7.4.2. Capacity-building
In addition to the activities of those institutions, which have as a prior-ity
to act as network-building institutions, most of the institutions em-phasise
co-operation and networking as important in regard to build-ing
the capacities of themselves and other institutions.

Those bodies working either to achieve settlements in cases of dis-crimination
or to overcome more structural equal treatment barriers
are dependent on the organisations with greater hands-on knowledge
in their respective countries. For instance, in the Netherlands the
Equal Treatment Commission works to settle cases of possible dis-crimination,
and is benefiting from the work of organisations like the
Expertise Centre on Age and Society and the National Bureau
Against Racial Discrimination and their knowledge of age-or ethnic-ity-
based discrimination.

Networking can also include other parties, e. g. where the institution
takes part in work being conducted by others. An example is the
Swedish HomO's participation in the reference group of two Swedish
EQUAL projects on Equal Treatment Because of Sexual Orientation,
which involve various unions and NGOs. One concerns the role of
sexual orientation in working life, and is established by the Swedish
trades union confederation, the confederation of municipalities, and
the Swedish federation for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender
rights. The other project is concerned with modifying the norms re- 130
130 Page 131 132
125 Report on the role, structure and functioning of specialised bodies to promote equality and/ or combat discrimination – Final Report
lated to homosexuality within the military, the police and the church in
Sweden, and likewise includes employers' and employees' organisa-tions
and NGOs. Through this co-operation the different institutions
are building capacity within the field of anti-discrimination work.

In connection with self-capacity building, the Dutch Expertise Centre
Age and Society may be mentioned. As a key European actor in the
area of age discrimination, it is important for the LBL to extend its
knowledge and obtain information from its network so as to keep fully
briefed on relevant developments in the area.

However, a large amount of the work particularly focuses on building
the capacity of other institutions, such as NGOs and trade unions.
Two organisations providing such capacity-building are the CRE and
the Swedish Ombudsmen. The Belgian CECLR is also seeking to
bring together and train groups of NGOs on an ad hoc basis.

Capacity building and training
The British Commission for Racial Equality has close links with a number of
NGOs, and in particular with the racial equality councils. The racial equality
councils are organisations working in local areas and among local communi-ties
to promote racial equality and deal with racial discrimination. The CRE
provides some funding and training to the circa 100 racial equality councils in
the UK.

The Swedish Ombudsman Against Discrimination Because of Sexual Ori-entation
gives priority to building competences among the trade unions,
which are supposed to handle cases of discrimination in the workplace. The

Co-operation within the national institutions of discrimination
In UK the Disability Rights Commission (DRC) co-operates with the GB
Commission for Racial Equality (CRE), the Equal Opportunities Commission,
the Equality Commission in Northern Ireland, and the Equality Authority in
the Republic of Ireland through:
-Regular joint meetings of the Chief Executives and Chairs
-Joint approaches to and meetings with Government
-Some joint publications and research, and sharing of staff resources
-Observers from the three GB Commissions and the NI Commission at-tending
each other's main meetings. 131
131 Page 132 133
126 Report on the role, structure and functioning of specialised bodies to promote equality and/ or combat discrimination – Final Report
Ombudsman noted that the unions have not so far paid much attention to
this issue, and often their members do not know that they can approach the
unions with problems relating to discrimination or harassment.

Capacity building can also relate to the previously-described initia-tives
which are directed at training organisations and companies in
how to handle cases of discrimination.

Mutual capacity building
In the course of its duties the British Disability Rights Commission (DRC)
builds links with disability and advisory groups, networks and organisa-tions
representing businesses and employers. The DRC also works with
other public and statutory bodies on issues relating to discrimination when
a joint approach is appropriate. The DRC reports on the nature and effec-tiveness
of those links in its Annual Report. The DRC is continuously up-dated
on developments in the field. The DRC also works to build capacity
among the organisations working on behalf of people with disabilities.

The question of capacity building also touches upon questions of how
to mainstream the equal treatment perspective in the work across
public institutions.

Some of the existing institutions have the role of networking and co-ordinating
these activities and ensuring the integration of a non-discriminatory
perspective into the work of the public administration –
in effect acting as a sort of watchdog for it.

Thus the French GELD emphasizes that one of its key concerns is to
establish capacity within all parts of the French public administration
for dealing with discrimination issues. Rather than wishing to see all
efforts and resources being focused on its own activities with the risk
that they will simply be concentrated into one small unit, the GELD
stresses the importance of ensuring that ministries and departments
should assume an active role and responsibility for mainstreaming the
discrimination issue. 132
132 Page 133 134
127 Report on the role, structure and functioning of specialised bodies to promote equality and/ or combat discrimination – Final Report
This role is also played by the Commissioner of the Berlin Senate,
and by the Finnish Ombudsman, as the text box below illustrates.

Mainstreaming the discrimination perspective into all areas of work
One of the aims of the newly-established Finnish Minority Ombudsman is
to develop co-operation between the public authorities and organisations
involved in the combating and prevention of ethnic discrimination. The
Ombudsman tries to critically evaluate how other officials acquire their
information and to ensure that the dimension of ethnic origin is taken into
account where necessary. For instance, when the Parliamentary Om-budsman
deals with a case the Minority Ombudsman tries to ensure that
the ethnic dimension is not left out.

7.4.3. Including other organisations in one's own work
Another way of building networks and enlarging capacities is to in-clude
stakeholders in working groups, advisory groups etc..

One example is the British CRE's private company group which as-sists
the CRE in developing strategies to make the organisation more
visible and effective in private company contexts. The CRE works
with a business advisory group containing representatives from 10-15
big corporations in order to help the CRE become more effective in
persuading businesses to work towards the achievement of racial
equality in their own workforces. They are currently engaged in a
dialogue regarding methodology, practical assistance and informa-tion.

The ODEI in Ireland has established a users' forum where users,
stakeholders and others are invited to participate in discussions about
the organisation and its procedures. No specific cases or legal as-pects
of cases are discussed. The forum is still very new, but both the
stakeholders and the organisation see it as a good and open way to
share experiences.

The Berlin Commissioner for Foreigners' Affairs works closely with
migrants' organisations. The Commissioner has been active in help-ing
migrants to organise themselves and to form so-called self-help 133
133 Page 134 135
128 Report on the role, structure and functioning of specialised bodies to promote equality and/ or combat discrimination – Final Report
groups. One role of the commissioner is also to act as a funding
agency supporting activities proposed by the migrant organisations.

Funding agency for other institutions
One of the activities of the Berlin Commissioner is to support an institution
called 'Werkstadt der Kulturen', which conducts intercultural activities for mi-grant
groups. This is an autonomous structure with its own administrative
board which also includes representation of the Commissioner's office. Its
activities are financed through the budget of the Commissioner, and the
Commissioner's office is responsible for their budget.

7.4.4. Summary of key points – co-operation
 Networking generally has a double capacity-building impact

which affects both the institution itself and its relevant partners
in the national equal opportunities field. 
Some institutions apply a double strategy of being in the fore-front
of anti-discrimination work and concurrently trying to in-tegrate
an equal treatment perspective in the work of other in-stitutions,
agencies and departments, thereby providing both a
mainstreaming strategy on equal treatment perspectives and
a knowledge base where others can obtain access to exper-tise. 134
134 Page 135 136
129 Report on the role, structure and functioning of specialised bodies to promote equality and/ or combat discrimination – Final Report
Appendix A: Institutional profiles
The five institutions selected for case studies are presented first. 135
135 Page 136
PLS RAMBØLL Management A/ S Olof Palmes Allé 20
DK-8200 Aarhus N Denmark
Tel. +45 8944 7800 Fax +45 8944 7833
CVR nr. 60 99 79 18
Nørregade 7A DK-1165 Copenhagen K
Denmark Tel. +45 3397 8200
Fax +45 3397 8233 CVR nr. 60 99 79 18

PLS RAMBØLL Management Rue de Crayer 5
B-1000 Brussels Belgium
Tel. +32 2 649 9983 Fax +32 2 649 0188
CVR nr. 60 99 79 18

PLS RAMBØLL Management GmbH Kieler Strasse 303 A
D-22525 Hamburg Deutschland
Tel. +49 (0) 40 5480 910 Fax +49 (0) 40 5480 9119
HRB 76096 www. pls-ramboll. de
hamburg@ pls-ramboll. com
Berliner Strasse 27 D-13507 Berlin
Tel. +49 30 233 634 49/ 50

PLS RAMBØLL Management AB Österlånggatan 18
SE-11131 Stockholm Sweden
Tel. +46 8 568 494 40 Fax +46 8 568 494 44
Org. No. 556507-6436 136

Page Navigation Panel