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

• Author: Sabatauskait?, Birut?
• Pages: 98-114

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7 BODIES FOR THE PROMOTION OF EQUAL T REATMENT (Article 13 Directive

2000/43)

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

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

The Equal Opportunities Ombudsperson is the main national institution dealing with

equality and non-discrimination and is the national anti-discrimination body established

in order to fulfil th e requirements of the Racial Equality Directive. When the La w on Equal

Treatment cam e into force in 2005, it expanded the mandate of the previous

Ombudsperson for Equal Opportunities of Men and Wom en, which was functioning on the

basis of the Law on Equal Opportunities for Women and Men. Thus, a new institution –

the Equal Opportunities Ombudsperson – covering all grounds of discrimination contained

in Directives 2000/43/EC and 2000/78/EC as well as the ground of gender, started

operating on 1 January 2005.

Initially, the Ombudsperson monitored the implementation of the Law on Equal

Treatment in the manner prescribed by the Law on Equal Opportunities f or Women and

Men. As of 1 January 2017, both laws have been amended and all procedural aspects

(appointment criteria and procedure, as wel l as competence a nd provisions on

investigations of complaints) have been moved from the Law on Equal Opportunities for

Women and Men to the Law on Equal Treatment.

The national equality body follows the traditional model of an Ombudsman institution. It

is governed by the h ead officer, the Ombudsperson for Equal Opportunities, who is

appointed and accountable to the Parliament and, according to the law, the main activity

of the institution is the handling of complaints. Although awareness raising and

promotion of equality wer e always a part of the Ombudsperson’s activities, these

activities were added as part of the mandate of the institution under amendments to the

Law in 2017. The Law on Equal Treatmen t was amended in 2018 (before enterin g into

force on 1 July 2019), adding the function of monitoring the implementation of the UN

Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The Ombudsperson’s mandate can

be considered as mixed (functioning as both a tribunal and a promotional body).

b) Political, economic and social context of the des ignated body

The institution of the Equal Opportunities Ombudsperson was initially established based

on international commitments to the UN regardin g gender equality, and was further

expanded based on th e requirements of the Racia l Equality D irective and the

Employment Equality Directive – and, most recen tly, in relation to the UN Con vention on

the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

Therefore, the exi stence of the institution is wi dely seen by politicians as a commitment

to international human rights standards and obligations, rather than resulting from a

genuine need for development in equality from within the country. Open hostility to the

existence of the institution has been avoided for a considerable time. Howeve r, in 2018,

the Ombudsperson received a written request and was invited to the Parliament to

provide answers regarding the ‘Support’ campaign, which had been implemented by the

institution with the aims of inspiring the public to support wom en who open up about the

experience of abuse and violence and of avoiding victim-blaming attitudes. Various

different people (a friend, the mother, a judge, a police officer, the children’s rights

protection service and a priest) were depicted in a campaign video as blaming the victim,

using the words victims said they had h eard during research. 281 The Ombud sperson was

invited to a plenary session in the Parliament and had to answer questions on whether,

281 ‘Support’ campaign, video by the Office of the Equal Opportunities Ombudsperson, available in Lithuanian

at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=15 &v=2KrHsqiwnQY.

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through its campaign, the Ombudsperson was not undermining state institutions,

discrediting society’s trust in state institutions and the state itself or violating the rights

of religious persons.282 During the campaign, the Ombudsperson was widely criticised by

church-affiliated groups and NGOs for violating ‘traditional values’. However, following

the criticism, the Ombudsperson has received support from around 50 specialised

centres, women’s organisations and human rights organisations,283 and a number of

politicians, including both Opposition and Government-supporting members of the

Parliament, expressed their support.

The underfunding of various governmental programmes is common practice in Lithuania.

Most of the national anti-discrimination p rogrammes, as well as many public bodies, were

severely underfunded during the years of economic crisis (2008-2012).

The Ombudsperson was gran ted a new role from July 2019 to monitor the UN C onvention

on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. In re lation to this function, a new Commission

for Monitoring the Rights of Pers ons with Disabilities was established. The Annual Report

for 2019 states that no sufficient funding was granted for the implementation of the new

function,284 and the additional EUR 22 000 for th e newly granted functions was allocated

to the Ombudsperson’s Office only from 2020.285

Public support for the national equality body remains rather limited. It is certain that

most of the human rights NGOs support the existenc e of the in stitution as such, but the

general public still lack knowledge and understanding of its role, as reported in previous

reports. More than half of the population in Lithuania say that, if they were discriminated

against or harassed, they would exercise t heir rights and would report the discrimination

to the police (37 %) or to the national Equal Opportunities Office (35 %).286 On the other

hand, when people are actually discriminated against, they rarely report the fact:

according to a public opinion poll, 95 % of individuals who said they had been victims of

human rights violations did not complain to any institution.287

There has been definite improvem ent since the appointment of the Ombudsp erson in

2015 – the efficiency of the institution has increased , its work has becom e much more

open to the public, its role has become much more visible in the media and, during the

last few years, it has instigated a few widely discussed a wareness-raising campaigns and

has spoken out against discriminatory attitu des expressed by high-level politicians.

According to the public opinion poll authorised by the Ombudsperson in 2018, 73.7 % of

persons indicated that they had heard of the Equal Opportunities Ombudsperson, and

28 % responded that they would con tact the Ombudsperson in the case of discrimination.

However, it should be noted that the level of trust in the Ombudsperson has fallen from

29.1 % in 2017 to 24.1 % in 2018.288

282 Transcript of the plenary session of the Parliament of the Republic of Lithuania of 13 November 2018,

available in Lithuanian at: https://e-

seimas.lrs.lt/portal/legalAct/lt/TAK/91184541e 7f911e894a78279b4c56611.

283 Letter from NGOs to the Parliament of the Republic of Lithuania, 13 November 2018, available in Lithuanian

at: http://manoteises.lt/wp-content/uploads/2018/11 /D%C4%97l-LR-Lygi%C5%B3-galimybi%C5%B3-

kontrolieriaus-tarnybos-vykdytos-kamp anijos-%E2%80%9EPalaikyk%E2%80%9C.pdf.

284 Lithuanian Equal Opportunities Ombudsperson (2020), Annual Report for 2019, available in Lithuan ian at:

https://lygybe.lt/data/public/uploads/202 0/03/lr_lygiu_galimybiu_kontrolieriaus_2019_m._v eiklos_ataskait

a.pdf.

285 2019-2020 Changes within state budget appropriations acc ording to appropriation managers (2019-2020

met valstybs biudžeto asignavim pokyčiai paga l asignavim valdytojus ), available in Lithuanian at:

http://finmin.lrv.lt/uploads/finmin/documents/file s/2020-01-13%202020-2019%20did%20maz.pdf.

286 European Commission, Eurobarometer survey, ‘Discrimination in the EU in 2015’, available online at:

http://ec.europa.eu/COMMFrontOffice/PublicOpinio n/index.cfm/ResultDoc/download/DocumentKy/68110.

287 Human Rights Monitoring Institute, public opinion poll on how society evaluates the situation of human

rights in Lithuania, conducted by Vilmorus from 3 to 12 Oc tober 2014, available online at:

http://www.hrmi.lt/musu-darbai/tyrimai178/v isuomenes-nuomones-apklausos/.

288 Lithuanian Equal Opportunities Ombudsperson (2019), Annual Report for 2018, available in Lithuanian at:

https://lygybe.lt/data/public/uploads/201 9/04/lgk-2018-m.-veiklos-ataskaita-.pdf.