National Council for Combating Discrimination

Brief history

Date established
August 2002
Legal basis
The National Council for Combating Discrimination was established pursuant to the adoption of Government Ordinance no. 137/2000 and Government Decision no. 1194/2001 on organization and function of NCCD. These legal acts represented the transposition of the community legislation in the field at national level. At European level there are institutions assigned to human rights protection and combating discrimination but NCCD is unique, its activity combining 14 discrimination criteria, no other institution having such a vast sphere of action, including sanctioning.

Romanian Government Decision 1279 from October 4 , 2003 for amending and supplementing the Government Decision 1194/2001 on organization and function of the National Council for Combating Discrimination.

Law no. 324 from July 14, 2006 for the amending and supplementing of the Government Ordinance no.137/2000 on preventing and sanctioning of all forms of discrimination.

Mandate Type

Predominantly tribunal-type (quasi-judicial) body

Litigation power:

• Intervening before the court
• Formally deciding on complaints (e.g. decision or recommendation addressed to the parties) legally binding

Activities

Our institution has a mandate to deal with:

• UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD)
• Hate speech

Other statistics:

Management

• Single headed equality body (led by director or ombudsman/commissioner)

Management details

The management is assured by President and Vice-President when the President delegates his authority by Internal Decision. The Members of the Steering Board have the rank of Secretary of State.
The Steering Board of NCCD is a collective and deliberative body that takes responsibility for the tasks provided by law and President and Vice-President are members of the Steering Board.

Additional details

The Steering Board of the NCCD is a collective and deliberative body that takes responsibility for the tasks provided by law and the President and the Vicepresident are members of the Steering Board.

Procedure for nomination and appointment of management and board

The Steering Board is made up of 9 members having the rank of secretary of state, appointed in the plenary session by the two Chambers of the Parliament. Nominations for the Steering Board shall be filed at the Standing Bureaus of Chambers of Deputies and Senate, within 30 days of the date when the mandates become vacant. The nominees shall have attached: curriculum vitae, criminal record, and statements of the candidates from which results that they don’t fall under the provisions of the art.19, paragraph (3), subparagraphs (e) and (f).
The Standing Bureaus of the two Chambers of the Parliament shall publish the list of candidates on their websites and submit their nominees to the standing specialty committees so that candidates can be interviewed in a joint session. Within 15 days of the date when the list of candidates is published, well-substantiated objections against candidates can be filed in writing.
Once candidates have been interviewed, the standing specialty committees shall prepare a joint report that will be read in a joint session of the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate.
Candidates can be approved by the majority of present deputies and senators.

Number of staff dealing with equality issues

Grounds and fields of discrimination covered by the equality body

Mandate covers:

• Public sector

Operating budget in euros

Operating budget in euros for the parts of the organisation dealing with equality issues (all types of functions)

We are accountable to

• The NCCD reports to the Ministry of Finance and to a specialised Court (Court of Accounts) who has the authority to check these issues.