Equal Treatment and Prohibition of Discrimination

Course outline

The course is twofold: first, the students get to know the international and European anti-discrimination law, the relevant case law of the European courts, the main concepts and principles of European non-discrimination law with regard to their formation, the procedural aspects of discrimination cases and the origins and trends of development of the European regulation in this field. In addition, basic theoretical approaches and research results on social psychological and sociological phenomena such as stereotype, prejudice and discrimination will be analysed. The course is designed to connect the two fields of knowledge by presenting the comprehensive social science context of legal administration of discrimination issues. Both the general social problems raised by discrimination, the complex relationship between stereotyped cognition, prejudiced attitudes and discriminatory practices and the problems related to discrimination against specific vulnerable groups will be covered. The course aims to show the role anti-discrimination law plays in the operation and development of a democratic society, emphasize the broad social consequences of the proper and innovative appliance of anti-discrimination law, and to develop tolerance and commitment towards the principle of equal treatment and the values represented by theoretically reflective, socially responsible practice of lawyers.

Competences 

After completing the course students will be able to recall and describe the development and social context of the main concepts, principles and internal consistency of international and European anti-discrimination law, will be able to interpret the case law of the European Court of Justice and the European Court of Human Rights. Students will be able to apply the previously discussed legal regulation in new, complex situations, to outline possible solutions and associated procedures to a discrimination complaint, and to evaluate and interpret these legal possibilities from the viewpoint of possible clients and analyse the extended social consequences of the appliance of anti-discrimination law (e.g. the importance of strategic litigation). Student will also be able to recall the main social science findings on the social psychological phenomena of prejudice, stereotype and research findings about discrimination and to use these to interpret new, specific problems and through this evaluate the role of the anti-discrimination law, the functioning of legal tools against discrimination in the wider context of a democratic society and legal system.

COMPULSORY READINGS

• Allport, Gordon W. (1954) The Nature of Prejudice, Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, Reading, Massachusetts
• Banakar, Reza (2010) Rights in Context, Law and Justice in Late Modern Society, Ashgate
• Handbook on European non-discrimination law, European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights, 2010 (http://fra.europa.eu/sites/default/files/fra_uploads/1510-FRA-CASE-LAW-HANDBOOK_EN.pdf) and its case-law update (http://fra.europa.eu/sites/default/files/2013-fra-case-law-handbook-update_corr.pdf)
• Jost, John T. – Banaji, Mahzarin N. (1994) „The role of stereotyping in system-justification and the production of false consciousness” British Journal of Social Psychology, 33, 1–29
• Loury, Glenn C. (2002) The Anatomy of Racial Inequality, Harvard University Press

RECOMMENDED READINGS

• Fraser, Sir Angus (1995) The Gypsies, Oxford, Blackwell
• Goffman, Erving (1963) Stigma. Notes on the Management of Spoiled Identity, London, Penguin
• Honneth, Axel (2004) „Recognition and Justice. Outline of a Plural Theory of Justice” Acta Sociologica, Vol. 47. No. 4 351–364
• Kanter, Arlene S. (2011) „The Law: What’s Disability Studies Got to Do with It or An Introduction to Disability Legal Studies” Columbia Human Rights Law Review, Vol. 42. No. 2, Winter 2011
• MacKinnon, Catharine A. (2005) Women’s Lives, Men’s Laws, Harvard University Press

LECTURER

Valéria Kiss

Sára Hungler

Documents