General legal framework

• Author: Nousiainen, Kevat
• Pages: 7-8

7

2 General legal framework

2.1 Constitution

2.1.1 Constitutional ban on sex discrimination

Section 6 of the Finnish Constitution prohibits discrimin ation on the ground of sex, age,

language, religion, conviction, opinion, health, disability or ‘other reason that concerns his

or her person’. The list of prohibited grounds is therefore non-exhaustive, and even

grounds not mentioned are protected against discrimination (Section 6(2)).

2.1.2 Constitutional protection of equality between men and women

Section 6(1) of the Constitution contains the principle of equality before the law; however,

this provision does not refer specifically to equality between men and women. The

preparatory works for the Constitution state that Section 6 shoul d be interpreted so that

even the general principle of equality ( expressed in Section 6(1)) contains a duty to

promote equality in society. This means that each subsection in Section 6 may be

considered relevant from the point of view of gender equality law, as the general principle

of equality (Section 6(1)) should not be int erpreted narrowly so as to preclude positive

measures.

Section 6(4) of the Constitution contains a provision on promoting equality of the sexes

‘in societal activity and working life, especially in the determination of pay and the other

terms of emplo yment’, as provided by legislation (Section 6(4)). The legislation referred

to is, a ccording to the preparatory works, the Act on Equality between Women and Men

and other legislation. In addition, the prohibi tion of discrimination expressly includes sex

as a protected ground, but since other grounds are also protected th e prohibition against

discrimination should at least in principle cover intersectional discrimination. Finally, as

the equality of children necessarily requires equality between girls and boys, the expressly

stated duty to promote gender equality is certainly a far-reaching pr ovision.

2.2 Equal treatment legislation

The Act on Equality between Women and Men contains provisions on equ al treatment on

the ground of sex and is complemented by legislation on equality bodies, whereas other

grounds of discrimination fall under the Non -Discrimination Act. The Non-Discrimination

Act covers all discrimination grounds under the Constitution, except for sex. The provisions

of th e Non-Discriminat ion Act are justiciable only in relation to the grounds recognised

under European Union law.

Section 7 of the Act on Equality contains a general prohibition of discrimination on the

ground of sex, directed at all parties and persons. The material scope of the Act on Equality

is quite broad, and Sect ion 7 contains a definition o f direct and indirect discrimination on

the basis of sex and prohibits discrimination on the ground of sex. A violation of Section 7

may have an impact in administrative law, as the prohibition of discrimination also applies

to public authorities. However, Section 7 does not pr ovide a victim of discrimination with

a justiciable right to demand compensation for discrimination. There is no justiciable right

for an individual, but authorities have a d uty to act.4 The Act on Equality contains further

prohibitions on discrimination in working life (Section 8), victimisation (Section 8a),

discrimination in educational institutions (Section 8b) and labour-market organisations

(Section 8c), workplace harassment (Section 8d), and discrimination in the access to and

4 This is a general prohibition with no specific addressee, such as employers. In this sense, the prohibition is

very broad. On the other hand, there is no remedy for the violated person under Section 7, although

authorities such as the Chancellor of Justice may consider that an authority has misused its powers by

violating Section 7.