Coordination at national level

• Author: Romanita Iordache
• Pages: 91-92

91

9 COORDINATION AT NATIONAL LEVEL

By law, the NCCD is responsible for all matters in regard to anti-discrimination in Romania,

although most of its visibility comes from reviewing petitions in alleged cases of

discrimination. However, conflicts of competence have occurred, with the courts deciding

against the NCCD in cases regarding discriminatory language used in the media. Therefore,

the National Audiovisual Council (Consiliul Naional al Audiovizualului) is competent to

decide whether an advertising clip or statements during a TV show are discriminatory or

not an d to impose appropriate sanctions on TV stations and media hosts in accordance

with the Audiovisual Law, which is considered lex specialis in relation to the Anti-

discrimination Law.260

Emergency Ordinanc e 83/2012, adopted in December 2012 and aimed at amending the

legislation on equal opportunities to bring it in line with European standards, introduce d

further confusion in its Article 23, as it creates overlapping comp etences with the NCCD

when it mandated the Ministry of Labour, Family and Social Protection to:

a) receive complaints regarding infringement of legal provisions on the principle of equal

opportunities and treatment between women and men and of non-discrimination on

the ground of sex, by individuals, legal entities, public and privat e institutions, and

convey them to the institutions responsible for resolving them and for applying

sanctions and ensuring counselling for victims under legal requirements ;

b) prepare reports, studies, analyses and make prognoses regarding enforcement of the

principle of equality of opportunities and treatment between women and men in all

fields of activity;

c) ensure exchange of information with the European bodies in the field of equal

opportunities between men and women.261

In spite of the confusi on, the ministry has not replaced the NCCD as equality body, as it

has a duty to transfer complaints to the NCCD. The same Emergency Ordinance 83/2012

introduces different definitions of discrimination, indirect discrimination, harassment, the

burden of proof and different ranges for the fines applicable in cases of discrimination on

grounds of gender, although it mentions the NCCD as the responsible entity in Article 46.

In 2016, the Parliament adopted Law 8 on the e stablishment of the mechanisms provided

by the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities from 18 January 2016 (Legea

nr. 8 din 18 ianuarie 2016 privind înfiinarea mecanismelor prevzute de Convenia privind

drepturile persoanelor cu dizabiliti),262 which aimed to establish the monitoring

mechanism under Article 33(2) of the UNCRPD. The media has reported numerous

challenges in establishing the monitoring council including the resignation of the first

director of the council263 as well as criticisms regarding its more recent work.264 There are

260 Bucharest Court of Appeal (Curtea de Apel Bucureti, Secia a VIII Contencios Administrativ i Fiscal), File

34845/2/2005, 18 January 2006.

261 Emergency Ordinance EO 83/2012 on modifying Law 202/2002 on equal opportunities and treatment

between women and men, 13 December 2012.

262 Law no. 8 on the establishment of the mechanisms provided by the Convention on the Rights of Persons

with Disabilities (Legea nr. 8 din 18 ianuarie 2016 privind înfiinarea mecanismelor prevzute de Convenia

privind drepturile persoanelor cu dizabiliti), 18 January 2016.

263 Elena Georgiana Pascu, Resignation request filed with the Romanian Senate, registered with no. I1760, 18

July 2016, available at:

http://www.activewatch.ro/Assets/Upload/files/georgiana%20pascu%20Cerere%20de%20eliberare%20din

%20functie%20CM.pdf.

264 Submissions of the Centre for Legal Resources in the dialogue on the enforcement of the judgment Centre

for Legal Resources on behalf of Valentin Câmpeanu v. Romania, ECtHR No. 47848/08, 17 July 2014,

https://www.escr-net.org/caselaw/2015/centre-legal-resources-behalf-valentin-campeanu-v-romania-application-no-

4784808. Newsweek Romania (2019), ‘Consiliul de Monitorizare, o palm peste obrazul oamenilor cu

dizabiliti’ (The Monitoring Council, a slap in the face of people with disabilities ), 1 March 2019 available

at: https://newsweek.ro/social/consiliul-de-monitorizare-o-palma-peste-obrazul-oamenilor-cu-dizabilitati.