The State Anti-Discrimination Act
Just for anyone who is interested. The State of Berlin in Germany just passed “ The State Anti-Discrimination Act “.
As of now it applies only to the State of Berlin and not nationwide. However I do hope that it’ll soon be passed nationwide.
The State Anti-Discrimination Act serves to protect against discrimination in the public law activities of the State of Berlin and to create and promote a culture of appreciation of diversity.
(I didn’t find an englisch source yet. I’ll add it, as soon as I find one. The following Information are from this Website: https://www.berlin.de/sen/lads/recht/ladg/fragen-und-antworten/)
(LADG stand for Landes-Anti-Diskriminierungs-Gesetz meaning The State Anti-Discrimination Act)
Why does the Land Berlin need its own anti-discrimination law?
The State Anti-Discrimination Act (LADG) enables people to take action against discrimination by public bodies of the State of Berlin. The LADG thus closes a gap in protection which the General Equal Treatment Act (AGG) left open. This applies nationwide, but only in the area of employment and civil law transactions.
Which characteristics are protected?
The LADG protects against discrimination on the following grounds
- of sex,
- of ethnic origin,
- a racial bias,
- an anti-Semitic ascription,
- of language,
- of religion,
- of worldview,
- a disability,
- a chronic disease,
- of age,
- of sexual identity,
- gender identity, and
- of social status.
Where does the LADG apply?
The LADG binds the entire public administration and all public agencies of the State of Berlin.
This includes, for example:
- the Berlin Senate and district administrations (e.g. schools, police, citizens’ offices),
- the direct public-law corporations (e.g. colleges, universities), institutions and foundations,
- the courts and authorities of the public prosecutor’s office and the police of the Land of Berlin, insofar as they perform administrative tasks
What is discrimination?
The law distinguishes between several forms of discrimination:
Direct discrimination occurs when a person
-in a comparable situation
-on the basis of one of the characteristics listed in the LADG
- receives less favourable treatment than another person,
- without this being justified.
Example: Acceptance of an application is refused because the applicant* does not speak the language.
Indirect discrimination occurs if
-apparently neutral rules, criteria or procedures
- typically discriminate particularly against a certain group of people,
- on the basis of one of the characteristics listed in the LADG,
- without being proportionate.
Example: The Citizen’s Center has a policy of denying access with animals. This neutral specification discriminates visually impaired people who are dependent on their assistance dog in a special way.
A nuisance exists if
- the conduct has as its object or effect the violation of the dignity of another human being, and
- the infringement is related to at least one of the characteristics listed in the LADG.
Example: In the presence of a claimant, misogynistic jokes are told by public sector employees.
In the LADG, sexual harassment and instructions to discriminate are treated as discrimination.
What does the presumption rule contain?
The presumption of conformity regulation contains a facilitation of evidence.
According to this rule, it is sufficient if the person affected by the discrimination establishes facts in court which make the existence of a violation of the prohibition of discrimination or a violation of the principle of non-discrimination predominantly probable.
In order for the facts to be established, it is sufficient, but also necessary, that a judicial finding of discrimination or reprimand is more likely than a finding of no discrimination. In the context of a comprehensive assessment of all the circumstances of the case in question, there must therefore be a greater likelihood of the existence of the discrimination in question than of its absence.
Only when the prima facie evidence is successfully established is there a reversal of the burden of proof. In the next step, it would then be up to the public body to prove the absence of discrimination (the so-called two-stage procedure of § 7).
