On 27 and 28 October 2022 Equinet hosted an in-person training in Brussels on the use of equality data in non-discrimination legal casework. The training brought together members of the Equinet Working Groups on Research and Data Collection and Equality Law in order to reinforce links between Equality Bodies’ legal casework and their work related to the collection and use of equality data.
Find below the training’s learning materials available for download.
Background
The European Handbook on Equality Data defines equality data as ‘any piece of information that is useful for the purposes of describing and analysing the state of equality’. The information may be quantitative or qualitative in nature. It could include aggregate data that reflect inequalities or their causes or effects in society. Sometimes data that are collected primarily for reasons other than equality-related purposes can be used for producing equality data.
Accurate and comparable equality data is essential in enabling adjudicators to assess cases of discrimination using a contextual analysis of group vulnerability and marginalization. It allows Equality Bodies as both adjudicators and litigators to better design, implement, and monitor purposeful casework strategies. Equality data are a powerful tool in the effective protection of complainants against bias and exclusion.
The need to improve the collection of reliable and comparable data at European and national level has been emphasised in a number of European Commission initiatives, including the Gender Equality Strategy, the LGBTIQ Equality Strategy, the EU Roma Strategic Framework and the Anti-racism Action Plan.
Objectives
The purpose of this training was to increase the capacity of Equality Bodies’ staff to effectively identify and use research and data in non-discrimination legal casework by focusing on:
- identifying good examples and good practices
- discussing challenges
- improving knowledge of relevant caselaw by the European Union Court of Justice (EUCJ) and the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR)
Learning materials
- Summaries of case law by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) and the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) illustrative of possible uses of equality data in equality adjudication.
- Trainers’ feedback on case study about the ECtHR – refer to the agenda (see the to-be-developed Event summary below for more highlights from the discussion)
- Event summary (main lessons learned and conclusions from the training)
- Presentation “Use of equality data in non-discrimination legal casework” with a focus on the European Court of Human Rights, by Margarita Ilieva
- Presentation “Use of equality data in non-discrimination legal casework” with a focus on the Court of Justice of the European Union, by Margarita Ilieva
- Presentation: Prison conditions for female inmates – the use of equality data in a discrimination case.
- Presentation: “Use of equality data in the work of Unia, the Interfederal Centre for Equal Opportunities”
Meet the trainer
Equinet partnered with Margarita Ilieva to deliver this interactive training. Margarita Ilieva is an international equality lawyer and law analyst, member of the European Network of Legal Experts in Gender Equality and Non-Discrimination and of the OHCHR Advisory Committee for the development of A Practical Guide to Developing Comprehensive Anti-Discrimination Legislation. She has litigated landmark cases, such as Behar and Gutman v. Bulgaria, Budinova and Chaprazov v. Bulgaria, Yordanova and Others v. Bulgaria, as well as other noteworthy cases including Oganezova v. Armenia and Karaahmed v. Bulgaria. Margarita Ilieva regularly trains European judges and lawyers on behalf of the Academy of European Law (ERA) and ODIHR/ OSCE. In 2021-22, she was a strategic litigation adviser for TGEU and CJEU case law analyst for ILGA. In 2022, she conducted a comparative analysis of EU equality bodies’ work on hate crime and hate speech on behalf of FRA.