Anti-discrimination Law and the European Union (Spring Semester)

This course will introduce students to anti-discrimination law in the European Union through the legal framework of EU non-discrimination directives, and Article 14 and Protocol 12 of the European Convention on Human Rights which prohibit discrimination across an assortment of contexts and grounds. The course will take students through the anti-discrimination law framework in the European Union starting with the Treaty of Rome of 1957 leading to the Equal Pay Directive (1975) and Equal Treatment Directive (1976) which prohibited discrimination on grounds of gender to access the workplace and finally to the Amsterdam Treaty (1997) which introduced the power to fight discrimination on multiple grounds like race, sex, ethnicity, disability, religion or belief, sexual orientation, age etc. The course will examine the foundational texts of the European Union and EU directives to understand how the guarantee of non-discrimination is interpreted by the Court of Justice of EU and the ECHR and how they operate in practice. The course will also interrogate the material scope of anti-discrimination law on employment, social security as well as education and access to justice and explore enforcement and remedies on the same and try to map the possibilities of a wider scope of anti-discrimination law in the European Union. The idea is also to introduce students to European Union’s anti-discrimination law through the development of European social citizenship.

The course was accredited according to the relevant procedures at JGU as a cross-curricular elective course and was piloted with 6 students.

Learning Objectives Learning Outcomes Envisaged teaching methods and techniques

The course aims to provide basic understanding of the following -
• Introducing students to the context and background of European anti-discrimination law
• Introducing students to the scope of ECHR and scope of EU non-discrimination law
• Offer an understanding of different kinds of discrimination—direct and indirect, multiple and intersectional.
• Offer an understanding of the procedural issues in non-discrimination law
• Introduce students to principles of equality and non-discrimination through case law analysis.

Analytically and critically describe and explain the context and background of European anti-discrimination law Analyse and critically evaluate:
• issues and concerns under anti-discrimination law in EU
• the operation of the substantive rules and principles of non-discrimination law and the social and economic contexts in which they operate.
Apply the principles under Non-discrimination law in EU to solve legal problems by:
• researching relevant issues
• analyzing and resolving problems on issues arising under the topic
• effectively communicating their solutions orally and in writing.

The class format will combine lecture and discussion, with a primary focus on the latter. Students are expected to prepare for and participate in class discussion on a regular basis. Students are expected to review the delineated course materials in advance of each class and to raise questions and present their thoughts on the material during the course of class discussions.