The new Draft Law on Prohibition of Discrimination introduced special forms of this phenomenon - racial discrimination, harassment and sexual harassment, and the provisions on mobbing and protection of persons with disabilities were abolished.
Assistant Minister for Human and Minority Rights Blanka Radošević said at the Committee for Gender Equality that the Ministry initiated amendments to the Law on Discrimination prompted by a comment from the European Commission.
"The main problem identified by the European Commission is the concept of direct and indirect discrimination," she stated.
Radošević explained that according to European legislation, there is no way to justify direct discrimination, which was the case in the previous law, because indirect and direct discrimination had identical text.
"Direct discrimination cannot be justified, and certain possible justifications are only part of indirect discrimination, so such an amendment was included in the Draft Law," she explained.
Radošević said that special forms of discrimination were introduced.
Radošević clarified that according to European legislation there is no way to justify direct discrimination, which was the case in the previous law, because indirect and direct discrimination had identical text.
Radošević clarified that the purpose of introducing special forms of discrimination is to identify acts that are considered dangerous for the social community and that are inadmissible from the point of view of moral standards.
"Also, the news is that the deadline for filing a lawsuit before the court, which according to the previous law was 90 days, has now been extended to a year," she stated.
Radošević said that the new draft strengthened and specified the penal provisions for indirect discrimination, which threatened penalties especially in the field of work, employment, education, age discrimination.
"Penalties ranging from 500 to 20 thousand euros are foreseen for legal entities, and additionally up to two thousand euros for the responsible person. While entrepreneurs will be fined from 300 to six thousand euros for this discrimination," she said.
Member of the Democratic Party of Socialists, Nada Drobnjak, asked why the new law deletes the provisions on mobbing and the protection of persons with disabilities.
"It is good that a new form of discrimination, sexual harassment, has been introduced, but I remain questionable as to why the provision on the protection of persons with disabilities is being deleted, and how those who do not respect their rights will be punished," she said.
Mobbing is regulated by a special law
Radošević clarified that the provision on mobbing is being deleted because that form of discrimination is regulated by a separate law.
"And as for the provision on the protection of persons with disabilities, if there is a lex specialis that deals with the Law on Prohibition of Persons with Disabilities, other laws cannot contain that norm," she explained.
"It is good that a new form of discrimination, sexual harassment, has been introduced, but I remain questionable as to why the provision on the protection of persons with disabilities is being deleted, and how those who do not respect their rights will be punished"
"That law should still maintain an inclusive norm, recognizing discrimination against persons with disabilities," she said.
Popović stated that through penal provisions, the current Law only recognizes discrimination in relation to access, preventing and limiting the use of access by persons with disabilities to facilities in public use.
According to her, in the current law, people with disabilities are discriminated against in the process of using public services.
"Also, the Law on the Prohibition of Persons with Disabilities does not recognize discrimination against those persons in the provision concerning information and communication technologies," said Popović.
She said that one should take into account the sanctions prescribed by that law, bearing in mind that a separate law does not prescribe sanctions, and that the law protects all forms of discrimination in an insufficiently precise manner.
"I am afraid that in the field of protection of persons with disabilities, they will not be sufficiently protected through this type of penal provisions," she stated.
The public discussion of the Draft Law on Prohibition of Discrimination will last until July 5.
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