Slovakia: class action against discrimination introduced by Parliament

Legal antidiscrimination protection. Generally speaking Slovak antidiscrimination law already provided relatively adequate antidiscrimination protection, once the country had implemented EU legislation into Slovak law. Societal prejudices persist, however, and there are still situations when individuals or specific groups are discriminated against. Even though the law provides for adequate protections for those being discriminated against, including a reversal of the burden of proof (i.e. it is up to the accused party to prove that he/she did not discriminate against the plaintiff), the number of discrimination cases remains very small. This is most likely due to a number of factors – the general population’s insufficient knowledge of their rights and lack of understanding of the legal techniques necessary to enforce rights before the courts, a lack of financial means to cover costs connected with a proceeding as well as fear of confronting the party who has discriminated against the accuser. In some cases it can be very difficult to identify the actual persons who were discriminated against even when the discrimination is without doubt (e.g. if an employer issues a discriminatory advertisement).