Equal in Law, Unequal in Fact : Racial and ethnic discrimination and the legal response thereto in Europe

A peculiar circumstance characterizes the fight against racial and ethnic discrimination. On the one hand, international legal protection against these forms of discrimination appears to be exceptionally strong. Discrimination on the basis of race is prohibited virtually by every key human rights document. The International Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Racial Discrimination has been ratified by none less than 173 countries. The EU Racial Equality Directive, for its part, has raised the standard of protection to an entirely new level across the EU. On the other hand, racial and ethnic discrimination is still rampant everywhere in the world, including Europe. According to a large-scale survey published by the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) in 2009, some 30% of the persons belonging to the surveyed immigrant and minority groups have experienced discrimination on account of their origin in the course of the past 12 months. Other quantitative and qualitative research undertakings have confirmed the high prevalence of discrimination in our contemporary societies. Contrary to popular beliefs and media reports that portray discrimination in terms of relatively rare incidents perpetrated by people belonging to rather marginal extremist movements (neo-nazism, skinheads, extreme right-wing groups), it is argued that contemporary forms of discrimination are recurring, take typically place in the course of everyday life (work, education, leisure), are often subtle (yet significant), and that it is ordinary people rather than extremists that tend to engage in it. Moreover, the study analyses the causes and consequences of discrimination, and concludes that discrimination and the disadvantage it engenders form a vicious circle that is very difficult to put a stop to. The study sets out to analyse the gap between the ideal and the real , the law and the reality. It analyses the contemporary forms of discrimination and how the international and European law attempts to cope with it. The approach is multidisciplinary: research findings from sociology and social psychology are used to analyse contemporary forms of discrimination and its causes and consequences, as well as to assess the effectiveness of the different possible countermeasures. Ordinary methods of legal interpretation are used to examine the current legal response to discrimination. The study concludes that one of the key reasons why the legal protection offered by the international and European legal instruments is not effective is that it relies rather exclusively on an individual litigation based model of enforcement. This model is not particularly effective, because people who experience discrimination face many different hurdles in bringing legal action, in particular with respect to proving their cases. Indeed, only some 18% of the victims of discrimination report their experiences to the authorities or at the organisation where the discrimination took place. Overall, the study argues in favour of a need to engage in active policies for the promotion of equal rights and equal opportunities. It explores tools such as data collection, positive action and positive duties, and analyses how these can be used to promote equality. It moreover analyses and acknowledges the limited effectiveness of also these tools, and concludes that it will likely be the case also in the future that some individuals are equal in law but unequal in fact.Rotuun ja etniseen alkuperään perustuvan syrjinnän kielto sisältyy kaikkiin keskeisiin ihmisoikeussopimuksiin. Yksi maailman eniten ratifioiduista ihmisoikeussopimuksista, YK:n kaikkinaisen rotusyrjinnän poistamista koskeva yleissopimus, koskee nimensä mukaisesti vain ja ainoastaan etnistä syrjintää. EU:n vuonna 2000 antama ns. rasismidirektiivi laajensi ja täsmensi suojaa syrjinnältä koko EU:n alueella ja johti esimerkiksi Suomessa yhdenvertaisuuslain (21/2004) antamiseen. Oikeus yhdenvertaiseen kohteluun toteutuu silti erittäin huonosti Euroopassa niin kuin muuallakin maailmassa. Vuosittain miljoonat, todennäköisesti kymmenet miljoonat ihmiset kokevat syrjintää alkuperänsä perusteella pelkästään Euroopassa. EU:n perusoikeusviraston v. 2009 julkaiseman tutkimuksen mukaan n. 30% tutkittuihin vähemmistö- ja maahanmuuttajaryhmiin kuuluvista henkilöistä oli kokenut syrjintää viimeisen 12 kuukauden aikana. Useissa maissa ns. syrjintätestausmenetelmällä jonka tuloksia pidetään erittäin luotettavina saatujen tulosten mukaan maahanmuuttaja- tai vähemmistötaustaisia henkilöitä syrjitään keskimäärin joka kolmannessa työnhakuprosessissa. Tutkimus pyrkii monitieteisellä ja kokonaisvaltaisella tavalla arvioimaan oikeussuojan tehottomuuden taustalla vaikuttavia syitä. Näitä syitä on useita. Oikeussuoja on suunnattu pääosin historiallisia (apartheid, rotuerottelu, holokausti) ja marginaalisia (uusnatsismi ja muu avoin rasismi) syrjinnän muotoja vastaan. Arkipäivän syrjintä, joka on usein peiteltyä ja johon syyllistyvät usein tavalliset ihmiset jopa tiedostamattaan, samoin kuin rakenteellinen syrjintä, jäävät usein oikeuden ulottumattomiin. Keskeisin heikkous on kuitenkin se, että oikeussuoja rakentuu ns. jälkikäteisen tuomioistuinkontrollin varaan: syrjintää kokeneiden henkilöiden oletetaan ryhtyvän pitkäkestoisiin ja potentiaalisesti kalliisiin oikeudellisiin toimenpiteisiin kokemansa vääryyden oikaisemiseksi. Tutkimusten mukaan vain n. 18% syrjintää kokeneista ryhtyy minkäänlaisiin toimenpiteisiin, ja kaikkiaan voidaan arvioida, että yli 90%:sesti syrjintä ei johda oikeudellisiin seuraamuksiin. Syitä sille miksi syrjintää kokeneet eivät ryhdy oikeudellisiin toimenpiteisiin on useita, mukaan lukien se, että syrjinnästä on vaikea saada näyttöä. Nykypäivän syrjintä onkin usein hienovaraista ja vaikeasti havaittavaa ja toteennäytettävää. Syrjinnän vastaisen oikeuden painopistettä tulisi siirtää passiivisesta, jälkikäteiseen tuomioistuinkontrolliin nojaavasta täytäntöönpanon mallista aktiiviseen, ennaltaehkäisevään täytäntöönpanon malliin. Pelkän syrjinnän kiellon sijasta tulisi pyrkiä edistämään yhdenvertaisuuden toteutumista. Viranomaisten, työnantajien ja elinkeinoelämän tulisi ennakollisesti varmistaa se, että niiden menettelytavat varmistavat kaikkien ihmisten yhdenvertaisten oikeuksien ja mahdollisuuksien toteutumisen. Syrjinnän aktiivisella seurannalla, positiivisen erityiskohtelun käytöllä ja aktiivisten toimintavelvoitteiden asettamisella on erityisesti merkitystä. Kaikkea syrjintää ei näilläkään toimenpiteillä kuitenkaan pystytä kitkemään

Adequate Access to Contraception and Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH) Information Post-Abortion: A Case Study from Nepal

This qualitative, exploratory study examined the post-abortion experiences of Nepali women, and access and uptake of safe abortion services; unsafe abortion; post-abortion contraception; and sexual and reproductive health information. Analysis revealed themes relating to women’s abortion seeking decision-making processes and barriers to high quality safe abortion services and family planning counselling. Findings emphasised the interconnectivity of sexual and reproductive health and rights; gender discrimination, reproductive coercion; education; poverty; geographical isolation; spousal separation; and women’s empowerment

Factors Affecting The Responsiveness Of Lebanese Private Universities To Internationalisation

Since 1990, internationalisation has expanded in the higher education (HE) sector, although there are different approaches to internationalising the education system. The literature has established a wide range of benefits and risks associated with internationalisation, and in Lebanon, internationalisation is still a relatively new development in HE. This research explores internationalisation within higher education institutions (HEIs) in Lebanon and aims to identify the factors that affect the response of Lebanese private universities to internationalisation. Two methods of data collection were employed: semi-structured interviews with key personnel involved in the internationalisation process in three private universities and documentary analysis. Data collected were analysed and interpreted using thematic and content analysis, while institutional theory and diffusion of innovation theory were employed as frameworks for the analysis. First, the study offers empirical evidence of the explanatory power of the two theories employed for the analysis of the findings. Second, the results identified various institutional and organisational factors that influence internationalisation processes, as well as the influence of stakeholders’ perceptions. Normative and mimetic forces were identified as factors that affect responsiveness in Lebanese HEIs. Leadership characteristics that favour the implementation of internationalisation processes were identified, in addition to reasons for resisting change. The research offers pertinent and timely information surrounding internationalisation practices of Lebanese HEIs. While COVID-19 hit the world hard, the internationalisation of HE was significantly affected too. Airports were closed down, countries and all education sectors where affected. The findings of this study can help illustrate best practices when implementing internationalisation processes and help raise awareness of the importance of internationalisation among many lawmakers in different branches of government and the education sector, in addition to assisting students and their parents in their choice of university

Declarative Support for Prototyping Interactive Systems

The development of complex, multi-user, interactive systems is a difficult process that requires both a rapid iterative approach, and the ability to reason carefully about system designs. This thesis argues that a combination of declarative prototyping and formal specification provides a suitable way of satisfying these requirements. The focus of this thesis is on the development of software tools for prototyping interactive systems. In particular, it uses a declarative approach, based on the functional programming paradigm. This thesis makes two contributions. The most significant contribution is the presentation of FranTk, a new Graphical User Interface language, embedded in the functional language Haskell. It is suitable for prototyping complex, concurrent, multi-user systems. It allows systems to be built in a high level, structured manner. In particular, it provides good support for specifying real-time properties of such systems. The second contribution is a mechanism that allows a formal specification to be derived from a high level FranTk prototype. The approach allows this to be done automatically. This specification can then be checked, with tool support, to verify some safety properties about a system. To avoid the state space explosion problem that would be faced when verifying an entire system, we focus on partial verification. This concentrates on key areas of a design: in particular this means that we only derive a specification from parts of a prototype. To demonstrate the scalability of both the prototyping and verification approaches, this thesis uses a series of case studies including a multi-user design rationale editor and a prototype data-link Air Traffic Control system

Notions of Quality Education through an Educational Policy–the Reflexive Case Study of a Collegial School Network in Malta

This research qualitatively delves into claims on quality education through policy-mandated collegial school networks in Malta. I set to ask how this organisational arrangement can serve as a vehicle for quality education, how can contextually relevant and stakeholder considerate definitions of quality education be construed, and how are these networks in Malta perceived as impacting stakeholders’ notions of quality education. The voices of policy makers, educational leaders, educators, parents and students, intertwined with my own distinct yet complementary reflexive contributions, are given centre stage to unravel variables determining the perceived and/or actual impact of the educational policy. I concluded that collegial school networks require specific characteristics to benefit definitions of quality education construed through a composite organic framework. In view of this, common gains and losses reside alongside contested divergences on the impact of collegial school networks in Malta as impacting stakeholders’ notions of quality education. After introducing the research and its context, including myself, the literature review contextualises the study within the milestones of Malta’s educational system, focussing on reforms mostly related to the research. It explores the quest for quality as an enigmatic and contested priority for education. An exposition of the contextual definitions, multiple applications, intended benefits and potential pitfalls of the pivotal concept of school networks interlaces with the claim for quality. Interests served by education also emerge as the running thread particularly when discussing the role of stakeholders. The enhanced appreciation of the interpretations and inferences of the themes being studied and how these dynamically interrelate in educational policy and quality education enabled the identification of critical elements, forming the basis for the field research. Morphing around my intimate experiences, setting an autoethnographic backdrop throughout the research and exposing extensive ethical considerations, I rely on a case study of one specific school network in Malta from an interpretivist paradigmatic position. The research employs semi-structured one-to-one interviews with designated educational leaders within the network, namely College Principal and Heads of School, and focus groups with teachers, students and parents. Other high-level interviews were held with critical figures in educational policy development in Malta, specifically, the Minister and Shadow Minister for Education, the President of the Teachers’ Trade Union, the Dean of the Faculty of Education at the University of Malta and an officially recognised representative of Employers as another key stakeholder. In Vivo and Initial Coding of the transcribed data, evolved into Theoretical and Axial Coding delineating a structure serving both the presentation of findings and the theoretical framework for the discussion and conclusions. The limitations of the study include my intricate involvement and the extended temporal component, paradoxically characterising its unique contribution. Conclusions drawn reveal complex intra- and inter-related constituents of the Multidimensional Chromosomic Structure of Quality Education, also serving as the theoretical framework. Whereas generalisability of the study has restrictions, emerging recommendations may support the integrity of educational policy development and implementation, whilst creating the space for further research in the area

Gender-Competent Legal Education

Male-dominated law and legal knowledge essentially characterized the whole of pre-modern history in that the patriarchy represented the axis of social relations in both the private and public spheres. Indeed, modern and even contemporary law still have embedded elements of patriarchal heritage, even in the secular modern legal systems of Western developed countries, either within the content of legislation or in terms of its implementation and interpretation. This is true to a greater or lesser extent across legal systems, although the secular modern legal systems of the Western developed countries have made great advances in terms of gender equality. The traditional understanding of law has always been self-evidently dominated by men, but modern law and its understanding have also been more or less “malestreamed.” Therefore, it has become necessary to overcome the given “maskulinity” of legal thought. In contemporary legal and political orders, gender mainstreaming of law has been of the utmost importance for overcoming deeply and persistently embedded power relations and gender-based, unequal social relations. At the same time and equally importantly, the gender mainstreaming of legal education – to which this book aims to contribute – can help to gradually eliminate this male dominance and accompanying power relations from legal education and higher education as a whole. This open access textbook provides an overview of gender issues in all areas of law, including sociological, historical and methodological issues. Written for students and teachers around the globe, it is intended to provide both a general overview and in-depth knowledge in the individual areas of law. Relevant court decisions and case studies are supplied throughout the book

The Theory, Practice, and Interpretation of Customary International Law

This volume discusses the theory, practice, and interpretation of customary international law, as well as new developments and future research trajectories. Combining discussions of familiar concepts with new ideas, it is useful for researchers, scholars, and practitioners of international law. Available Open Access on Cambridge Core

The Theory, Practice, and Interpretation of Customary International Law

Although customary international law (CIL) has been central to international law from its inception, it is often misunderstood. This edited volume remedies that problem by tracing the history of CIL and provides an in-depth study of its theory, practice, and interpretation. Its chapters tackle the big questions which surround this source of international law such as: what are the rules that regulate the functioning of CIL as a source of international law? Can CIL be interpreted? Where do lines between identification, interpretation, application, and modification of a rule of CIL lie? Using recent developments, this volume revisits old debates and resolves them by proffering new and innovative solutions. With detailed examples from international and national courts, it places CIL in a range of settings to explain, explore and reflect upon this developing and highly significant field. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core

Gender-Competent Legal Education

Male-dominated law and legal knowledge essentially characterized the whole of pre-modern history in that the patriarchy represented the axis of social relations in both the private and public spheres. Indeed, modern and even contemporary law still have embedded elements of patriarchal heritage, even in the secular modern legal systems of Western developed countries, either within the content of legislation or in terms of its implementation and interpretation. This is true to a greater or lesser extent across legal systems, although the secular modern legal systems of the Western developed countries have made great advances in terms of gender equality. The traditional understanding of law has always been self-evidently dominated by men, but modern law and its understanding have also been more or less “malestreamed.” Therefore, it has become necessary to overcome the given “maskulinity” of legal thought. In contemporary legal and political orders, gender mainstreaming of law has been of the utmost importance for overcoming deeply and persistently embedded power relations and gender-based, unequal social relations. At the same time and equally importantly, the gender mainstreaming of legal education – to which this book aims to contribute – can help to gradually eliminate this male dominance and accompanying power relations from legal education and higher education as a whole. This open access textbook provides an overview of gender issues in all areas of law, including sociological, historical and methodological issues. Written for students and teachers around the globe, it is intended to provide both a general overview and in-depth knowledge in the individual areas of law. Relevant court decisions and case studies are supplied throughout the book