The German Anti-Discrimination Law of 2006 - A small step?

Seminar paper from the year 2006 in the subject Politics - International Politics - Topic: Public International Law and Human Rights grade: A- Ryerson University course: Diversity and Equity in the Public Sector language: English abstract: The German Anti-Discrimination Law of 2006-A small Step?-ABSTRACT German parliament has passed a General Equal Treatment Act in 2006 and the implementation ensued by controversial discussion was mainly settled on because of pressure from the European Court of Justice. Generally the law is intended to largely circumvent or abolish discrimination in most areas of public life. This paper is assessing the Act in the national and international - mainly EU - context as well as the main arguments of both proponents and opponents. It finds that most reasons against the Act can be refuted by arguments brought forward by proponents. In addition the functionality of the Act is discussed and some problems and backlashes are discovered while the law itself is found to reveal gaps in terms of the scope of the legislation as well as the characteristics of discrimination. The Act is criticized as it mainly offers correctional measures against discrimination with hindsight while being less likely to avert discrimination in the first place. The legislation is found to have potential to shift the common consciousness to acknowledging diversity as a motor for societal and economic progress and as it recognizes that discrimination is a systemic rather than an individual problem in Germany it might render as a building block to fight discrimination and exclusion. However despite the fact that the German legislation is more concise than the EU guideline it is shown that the legal framework is only a first small step toward equal and fair treatment in Germany. The paper argues that protection against discrimination is a structural principle of human rights beyond formal equality that cannot be secured by the Act alone but