Bodies for the promotion of equal treatment (article 13 Directive 2000/43)

• Author: Jakub Tomsej
• Pages: 73-79

73

7 BODIES FOR THE PROMO TION OF EQ UAL TREATMENT (Article 13 Directive

2000/43)

a) Body/bodies designated for the promotion of equal treatment irrespective of

racial/ethnic origin according to Article 13 of the Racial Equality Directive

The Czech Anti-Discrimination Act (Act No. 198/2009) assigns the role of anti-

discrimination body to the Public Defender of Rights (the Czech Ombudsman). The Czech

Ombudsman has responsibility for all grounds covered by the equality directives, and will

provide support to individuals when filing discrimination complaints, conduct research and

publish reports and recommendations.

b) Political, economic and social context for the designated body

The Ombudsman is elected by the Chamber of Deputies of the Czech Parliament for a

period of six years and is responsible to the Chamber. Candidates are proposed by the

President and the Senate of Czechia (each has the right to propose two candidates from

which the Chamber of Deputies will select one successful candidate).

The Czech Ombudsman may not be a member of a political party or a political movement.

As of 31 December 2019, Anna Šabatová holds the position of Ombudsman, and Stanislav

Keček holds the position of Deputy Ombudsman.

The office of the Ombudsman is funded from the state budget, with its own independent

budget allocation. The budget is determined as an annual fixed budget.

The Ombudsman actively participates in public debates but measures proposed by the

Ombudsman often have limited political support.

c) Institutional architecture

The Czech Ombudsman has several mandates defined in the relevant law.

In addition to its non-discrimination responsibilities, the Ombudsman must act in relation

to the following matters:

- unlawful acts by the state administration, acts of the state administration that are

contrary to the rules of the democratic state governed by the rule of law and proper

administration, as well as inactivity of the state administration (public Ombudsman);

- regular visits to places where persons restricted in their freedom by public authority,

or as a result of their dependence on care provided, with the objective of

strengthening the protection of these persons against torture, or cruel, inhuman and

degrading treatment, or punishment and other forms of ill-treatment;

- monitoring detention of foreign nationals and the execution of administrative

expulsion, transfer or transit of detained foreign nationals and of the punishment of

expulsion imposed on foreign nationals placed in banishment custody or serving

prison sentences;

- supervision of observation of international treaties regarding rights of individuals with

disabilities (including, but not limited to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with

Disabilities – the CRPD);

- competence in the field of free movement of citizens of the EU/EEA and their family

members.

In addition, from 1 January 2018, the Ombudsman is also competent to carry out the

following activities in relation to workers from other EU countries: