33-496: Legal Information Centre for Human Rights is a non-governmental organisation based in Estonia, according to Hanne-Margret Birckenbach, is "particularly involved in promoting the concerns of Russian-speaking inhabitants and with outstanding contacts to West European research institutes", which "is considered as one of the few attempts in Estonia to develop competence in the understanding of human rights issues, whereas Estonian judges or
66-941: A Resolution that condemned the EP's Resolution as an "illegal act" (pointing to the fact that the FRA explicitly has no mandate to examine the legislation adopted by Member States) and requesting the Lithuanian Government to take legal action against the EP before the European Court of Justice . European Union regulation A regulation is a legal act of the European Union which becomes immediately enforceable as law in all member states simultaneously. Regulations can be distinguished from directives which, at least in principle, need to be transposed into national law . Regulations can be adopted by means of
99-528: A major survey on violence against women , based on face-to-face interviews with over 42,000 women from across the 28 Member States of the EU. The survey asked about their experiences of physical, sexual and psychological violence including incidents of intimate partner violence (' domestic violence '). Questions also asked about incidents of stalking , sexual harassment and online harassment as well as their experience of violence in childhood . According to
132-400: A regulation comes into force, it overrides all national laws dealing with the same subject matter and subsequent national legislation must be consistent with and made in the light of the regulation. While member states are prohibited from obscuring the direct effect of regulations, it is common practice to pass legislation dealing with consequential matters arising from the coming into force of
165-737: A variety of legislative procedures depending on their subject matter. Despite their name, Regulations are primary legislation rather than regulatory delegated legislation ; as such, they are often described as "Acts" (e.g. the Digital Services Act ). The description of regulations can be found in Article 288 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (formerly Article 249 TEC ). Article 288 To exercise
198-429: Is normally done in national legal systems. Regulations are in some sense equivalent to the legislative acts of the member states, in the sense that what they say is law and they do not need to be mediated into national law by means of implementing measures. As such, regulations constitute one of the most powerful forms of European Union law and a great deal of care is required in their drafting and formulation. When
231-595: Is not considered discriminatory by the Convention against Discrimination in Education if participation in such systems or attendance at such institutions is optional, and if the education provided conforms to such standards as may be laid down or approved by the competent authorities. European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights The European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights , usually known in English as
264-664: Is not mandated to intervene in individual cases but rather to investigate broad issues and trends. The FRA was established in 2007 as the successor to the European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia (EUMC), which was also based in Vienna. The EUMC's mandate was narrower than that of the FRA, as it was restricted to issues of racism and xenophobia . The EUMC grew from the Commission on Racism and Xenophobia (CRX), established in 1994, and also known as
297-570: The Fundamental Rights Agency ( FRA ), is a Vienna -based agency of the European Union inaugurated on 1 March 2007. It was established by Council Regulation (EC) No 168/2007 of 15 February 2007. The FRA is an EU body tasked with "collecting and analysing data on fundamental rights with reference to, in principle, all rights listed in the Charter "; however, it is intended to focus particularly on "the thematic areas within
330-532: The 2009 European Parliamentary elections, that he was a member of a pro-minority Constitutional party, and that he carried out activities financed and directed by the Russian authorities. However, Alexei Semjonov has stated publicly on 20 March that he would not take part in the European Parliamentary elections. Official information available on the internet showed that he
363-608: The British Conservative MEP Syed Kamall said: "The Fundamental Rights Agency will take £20m (30m euros) of taxpayers' money and use it to advance a partisan agenda with little accountability to anyone". In 2010 the German newspaper Die Welt reported that the centre-right French politician Pierre Lellouche , then EU minister in the Sarkozy government, questioned "the added value" of the FRA when
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#1732787010418396-700: The Council of Europe already took care of human rights. A Resolution adopted in September 2009, in which the EP condemned a "Law on the Protection of Minors", which was then under discussion in Lithuania, as "homophobic" and requested the FRA to issue a legal opinion on whether the draft law was compatible with the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights. The Lithuanian Parliament, however, responded by adopting
429-550: The EU 2002 – 2003' was published. It detailed a rise in attacks targeting Jewish businesses, synagogues , cemeteries and individuals. The countries with the most significant number of attacks were Belgium , France , Germany , the Netherlands and the United Kingdom . A second report, on perceptions of antisemitism, was also published. The largest monitoring project ever to be commissioned regarding Islamophobia
462-554: The EU". Data from the 2011 Roma survey is available via an online data explorer tool Archived 21 June 2016 at the Wayback Machine . EUMC published reports are available from the website here of the FRA, the EUMC successor agency. A selection is given below. In 2005, the EUMC published a working definition of antisemitism , whose stated purpose was to "provide a guide for identifying incidents, collecting data and supporting
495-548: The European Union experience the fulfilment of their fundamental rights. This followed a 2009 report on homophobia and discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation or gender identity which identified the need for comparative data on this issue. The results reflect the experiences of more than 93,000 individuals who completed the online survey across Europe. The aim was to support the development of more effective laws and policies to fight discrimination, violence and harassment, improving equal treatment across society. From
528-582: The Kahn Commission. The CRX was transformed into the EUMC in June 1998; officially established by Council Regulation (EC) No 1035/97 of 2 June 1997. Since its inception, the FRA has carried out surveys and published reports which are available online. A full list of publications is given on Publications & resources > Publications. This section discusses reports that have seen significant attention from outside observers. In March 2014, FRA published
561-458: The Union's competences, the institutions shall adopt regulations, directives, decisions, recommendations and opinions. A regulation shall have general application. It shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States. A directive shall be binding, as to the result to be achieved, upon each Member State to which it is addressed, but shall leave to the national authorities
594-539: The attacks, removing women's hijab , spitting, using the name "Usama" as a pejorative epithet, and assaults. The report concluded that "a greater receptivity towards anti-Muslim and other xenophobic ideas and sentiments has, and may well continue, to become more tolerated". The need for a new human rights institution was questioned given that human rights policy was a principal concern of the Council of Europe (CoE), of which all EU member states were also members. In 2007
627-598: The centre's director Semjonov, claiming that: According to the latest information Russia has decided to stake at the 2009 election of the European Parliament an unexpected candidate Alexei Semyonov. Although it is no secret that Semyonov is a member of the Constitutional Party , he has not yet proved himself in public as a politician (...) Alexei Semyonov is a person with classic loyalty to Kremlin, who coordinates his activities and decisions with
660-496: The choice of form and methods. A decision shall be binding in its entirety upon those to whom it is addressed. Recommendations and opinions shall have no binding force. The Council can delegate legislative authority to the Commission and, depending on the area and the appropriate legislative procedure, both institutions can make laws. There are Council regulations and Commission regulations. Article 288 does not clearly distinguish between legislative acts and administrative acts, as
693-687: The education system was segregated with Russian settlers attending separate nursery schools, primary schools, and secondary schools with different curricula and instruction was held exclusively in Russian while the natives attended public schools with instruction in both Estonian and Russian On the other hand, the Estonian minister of education Aaviksoo, in rebuking claims that the school reforms were unconstitutional (the LICHR book claims Russian school closures are unconstitutional), stated that Russian schools in Estonia have existed for more than 100 years, including
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#1732787010418726-593: The findings, it was noted that: A second round of the survey (EU-LGBTI II) is currently underway, and the results will be published in 2020. This will collect comparable data in order to compare the results with the prior survey. The online survey methodology was chosen to ensure the anonymity of ‘hard-to-reach’ or ‘closeted’ LGBT populations, to encourage reporting of sensitive or negative experiences, such as criminal victimisation, and eliminate bias, which could have been introduced by telephone or face-to-face interview approaches. Multiple responses were discouraged through
759-479: The first independence time between the world wars, and will continue to exist. The UN Forum on Minority Issues considers that "The creation and development of classes and schools providing education in minority languages should not be considered impermissible segregation, if the assignment to such classes and schools is of a voluntary nature". The "establishment or maintenance, for religious or linguistic reasons, of separate educational systems or institutions" as such
792-515: The general public was not included in the survey, as it is already collected by Eurobarometer . The analysis of the results in the EU LGBT survey – Main results report compares some Eurobarometer data with the EU LGBT survey results. The Agency has a multi-annual Roma programme to allow it "to make regular reports on progress made and provide evidence based advice to the EU institutions and Member States based on data systematically collected across
825-408: The implementation and enforcement of legislation dealing with antisemitism". In November 2013 the definition was removed from the organisation's website in 'a clear-out of non-official documents'. A spokesperson stated that the document had never been viewed as a valid definition and that "We are not aware of any official definition". In May 2004, a report labeled 'Manifestations of antisemitism in
858-714: The legal education system, for instance, have remained uninterested". It participates at the EU FRA 's Fundamental Rights Platform and is FRA's RAXEN focus group for Estonia, is member of AEDH and ENAR as well as supports UNITED network. Its sponsors include the European Commission , Tallinn city, and the British, Russian, Norwegian, US, and Dutch embassies. In 2009, the Estonian Internal Security Service has published statements on
891-504: The length (approximately 30 minutes) and complexity of the survey, while the input process in the different countries was closely monitored for falsifications. The results are not intended to be representative of all LGBT people in the EU, but provide the largest collection of empirical evidence on the experiences of LGBT people in Europe to date. Data about the perceptions of discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation or gender identity of
924-408: The responses of the report some of the key findings indicated that: In 2009, FRA released a survey on the experiences of discrimination , racist crime , and policing of minority group and immigration groups in the EU. The survey was based on the responses of 23,000 individuals from selected ethnic minority and immigrant groups, and additionally, 5,000 people from the majority population living in
957-477: The same areas as minorities in 10 Member States . Key findings of the survey include that: A second round of the survey (EU-MIDIS II) is currently underway, and the results will be published in 2016. This will collect comparable data, and assess the impact of national anti-discrimination and equality legislation and policies in the EU. In 2013, FRA conducted an online survey to identify how lesbian , gay , bisexual and transgender ( LGBT ) people living in
990-703: The scope of EU law ". Those nine thematic areas are defined by Council Decision No 252/2013/EU of 11 March 2013, establishing a Multiannual Framework for 2013–2017 for the Agency. They are: access to justice; victims of crime; information society; Roma integration; judicial co-operation; rights of the child; discrimination; immigration and integration of migrants ; and racism and xenophobia . The FRA's primary methods of operation are surveys, reports, provision of expert assistance to EU bodies , member states , and EU candidate countries and potential candidate countries , and raising awareness about fundamental rights. The FRA
1023-609: The wants of the financers. Amnesty International evaluated these statements in the following way: In its report published in April, the Security Police board continued to attempt to discredit the Legal Information Centre for Human Rights (LICHR), an NGO promoting and defending the rights of linguistic minorities. The report stated that Alexei Semjonov, the LICHR director, would be a pro-Russia candidate at
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1056-531: Was not a Constitutional party member. In a project financially backed by the Russkiy Mir Foundation , the centre has published the book "Russian Schools of Estonia. Compendium of Materials" with the aim of creating conditions for the preservation of the existing public system of separate Russian language schools within Estonia. The current system is described as a legacy of the Soviet period when
1089-605: Was undertaken following 9/11 by the European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia (EUMC). From a total of 75 reports, 15 from each member state, a synthesis report, entitled "Summary report on Islamophobia in the EU after 11 September 2001", was published in May 2002. The report highlighted occasions in which citizens abused and sometimes violently attacked Muslims . Discrimination included verbal abuse, indiscriminately accusing Muslims of responsibility for
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