1 / 14

Discrimination and Human Rights Human Rights Act 1993 Bill of Rights

Discrimination and Human Rights Human Rights Act 1993 Bill of Rights. What we’ll cover. Summary of laws relevant to discrimination and human rights When discrimination is against the law What you can do about illegal discrimination. The Human Rights Act 1993.

heman
Download Presentation

Discrimination and Human Rights Human Rights Act 1993 Bill of Rights

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript


  1. DiscriminationandHuman Rights • Human Rights Act 1993Bill of Rights

  2. What we’ll cover • Summary of laws relevant to discrimination and human rights • When discrimination is against the law • What you can do about illegal discrimination

  3. The Human Rights Act 1993 • Bans certain kinds of discrimination • Applies to private sector (businesses, individual landlords etc) • Establishes a complaints process

  4. The NZ Bill of Rights Act 1990 • Covers only government / public bodies • Protects human rights, for example - • no discrimination • citizens can move around NZ freely • freedom of religion, culture, language • no unreasonable search, seizure or detention • Various remedies developed by Courts

  5. UN declarations & conventions • Three relevant UN documents – • UN Principles for Protection of Persons with Mental Illness and for Improvement of Mental Health Care (1991) • UN Declaration on Rights of Disabled Persons (1975) • UN Convention on Rights of Persons with Disabilities (2006) • Not directly enforceable in NZ

  6. Discrimination by private organisations and individuals • It’s illegal when – • You’re treated differently from other people • Because of one of the grounds in the Human Rights Act • In one of the areas of life specified in the Act

  7. The illegal grounds of discrimination • They include “disability”, which includes – • Physical disability or impairment • Physical illness • Psychiatric illness • Intellectual or psychological disability or impairment • Any other loss or abnormality of psychological, physiological, or anatomical structure or function • Reliance on a guide dog, wheelchair, or other remedial means • The presence in the body of organisms capable of causing illness

  8. Areas of life covered by Human Rights Act • Employment • Access to public places, vehicles and facilities • Goods and services provided to the public • Housing and accommodation • Education • Partnerships • Qualifying bodies, vocational training bodies, and industrial and professional associations

  9. Exceptions that allow discrimination • Private situations, such as – • Jobs in private homes • Shared accommodation as flatmates • Positive discrimination • Discrimination to help social groups who’ve been disadvantaged by discrimination • Sometimes called “affirmative action”

  10. Discrimination by government departments and other public bodies Effect of Bill of Rights • Illegal to discriminate on grounds in Human Rights Act • Covers all conduct and activities of public bodies • Exceptions for ‘justified’ discrimination and ‘positive’ discrimination • Complaints go to Human Rights Commission

  11. Direct and indirect discrimination • Two types, and both are illegal • Direct – discrimination on the basis of one of the illegal grounds • Indirect – conduct that seems to be neutral but has effect of discriminating

  12. Who can I complain to? • Both private sector and public sector can complain to the Human Rights Commission • Complaint doesn’t have to be in writing • Phone 0800 4 YOUR RIGHTS (0800 496 877) • Complaint form at www.hrc.co.nz

  13. What will the Human Rights Commission do? • The Commission – • Will investigate • Try to resolve the problem through mediation • Can send your case to The Director of Proceedings and Human Rights Review Tribunal

  14. The Human Rights Review Tribunal • A special court • Deals with breaches of Human Rights Act, Code of Rights and Privacy Act • The Tribunal can order the discriminator to, for example – • stop discriminating • pay you compensation

More Related