On 4 August 2010, the Californian District Court, in the case of Perry, Stier, Katami and Zarrillo v. Schwarzenegger, Brown, Horton, Scott, O’Connell and Logan, (2010) C09-2292 VRW, held that Proposition 8, an amendment to the California State Constitution providing that marriage is valid only between heterosexual persons, was unconstitutional.
News
Today, The Equal Rights Trust (ERT) launches its report “Unravelling Anomaly: Detention, Discrimination and the Protection Needs of Stateless Persons”. The report, which is the result of two years of research, reflection and debate, is ERT’s contribution to a growing body of expertise on statelessness.
On the occasion of the International Day against Homophobia and Transphobia, the Equal Rights Trust (ERT) calls upon all countries to repeal laws that perpetuate LGBTI discrimination and for human rights organisations to put LGBTI equality among their strategic priorities.
On 31 March 2010, the Supreme Court of India, considering the cases of Dalco Engineering Private Ltd v. Shree Satish Prabhakar Padhye & Ors and Fancy Rehabilitation Trust & Anr v. Union of India & Ors, held that the Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act 1995 was not applicable to private companies.
On 8 April 2010, the United Kingdom (UK) Parliament passed the Equality Act 2010. The Act harmonises existing equality law which previously had been spread across numerous separate pieces of legislation.
On 25 March 2010, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), in the case of Paraskeva Todorova vs. Bulgaria (Application no. 37193/07), ruled that the Bulgarian courts had discriminated against a Romani woman, in deciding to impose a custodial rather than the suspended sentence recommended by the prosecution. The ECtHR found that in so doing, the Bulgarian courts had motivated their decision on the basis of her ethnic origin.
On 24 March 2010, the Offences (Aggravation by Prejudice) (Scotland) Act 2009 came into force. The Act, which was passed by the Scottish Parliament on 3 June 2009, creates new statutory offences to protect victims who are targeted because of their disability, sexual orientation or transgender identity.
On 16 March 2010, the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights (the Court), in the case of Oršuš and Others v. Croatia (Application no.15766/03), ruled that Croatia discriminated against 15 Roma children who were segregated into separate school classes.
On 2 March 2010, the European Court of Human Rights in the case of Kozak v. Poland (application No. 13102/02) found that a same-sex partner should be able to succeed to a tenancy held by their deceased partner. The Court held that the Polish authorities’ exclusion of same-sex couples from succession could not be justified as necessary for the legitimate purpose of protection of the family and was a violation of the right to non-discrimination under Article 14 of the European Convention on Human Rights.
