Strategic litigation[editar]
The strategic litigation is another important area of work of the Department of Equality and Non-Discrimination. The legal defence of victims of discrimination and hate crimes is a fundamental aspect to guarantee citizens' access to justice. Therefore, the FSG selects some cases especially serious or relevant, representing victims before the Courts.
- The case of María Luisa Muñoz “La Nena” was one of the strategic litigation cases defended by the FSG. The case of this Spanish Roma woman who was denied the right to receive a widow’s pension by the highest court in Spain because she was married in accordance with Romani rites was heard at the European Court of Human Rights and failled in favor of the applicant. https://www.gitanos.org/actualidad/archivo/47465.html (spanish)
- Another case at the Court of Barcelona convicted two Mossos d'Esquadra (Catolinan police) for having falsely accused a Roma woman for having maltreated her baby at the door of a supermarket in Barcelona. The two police officers were sentenced to two years in prison and had to pay a fine of €12.000. https://www.gitanos.org/actualidad/archivo/104115.html.en
- Another strategic litigation case for The FSG was a specific case related to discrimination on acces to employment. A girl contacted FSG in Madrid and told them that she was going through a hiring process for a healthcare assistant role in a hospital, covering a one-month fixed term. She told us that she had had the interview and they said that they would take her on, after two days of practical training. On her first day at the hospital, the coordinator asked her, “Are you Roma?” The girl, surprised by the question, answered that she was.
After that, the coordinator’s attitude changed completely; he began to ask her for documents that had not previously been required, such as a criminal records certificate. She asked a colleague in the same role if they had been asked for one, and they answered that they had not.
The girl, who was not hired in the end, contacted FSG to explain what had happened and to say that she was discouraged and sad because admitting that she was Roma led to her not being hired, which had had an effect on her career. FSG believes that the girl’s story constitutes a case of discrimination in access to employment, on anti-Roma grounds, which must be sanctioned by law for its serious violation of fundamental rights such as equality, antidiscrimination and the respect for the dignity of all. FSG asked the girl to pursue litigation, filing a complaint before the social court with the support of a specialist lawyer in labour discrimination matters.
outcome and FSG’s support. You can read + info about this case at FSG Annual Report 2018.
- Our latest Strategis Litigation was on February 13, 2018 when the General Directorate of Urban Discipline of the City Council of Madrid, and within the framework of a police operation carried out in Cañada Real Galiana, evicted and demolished several homes without complying with the established legal procedure and without mediation authorization judicial. This performance was witnessed by the staff of the FSG. Among the affected homes was that of the claimant family, consisting of one father, one mother and three children under 6, 4 and 1 year old. Given these actions, we have accompanied, advised and represented the demanding family, through an administrative lawyer of the Gentium organization, in the judicial actions necessary to determine the illegality and violation of fundamental rights, which have culminated with the aforementioned favourable ruling in the second instance. The case of this lawsuit is not an isolated incident in Cañada Real Galiana: many families have been evicted in an irregular manner by different administrations.
Therefore, we wanted to make visible the importance of claiming the defence of the protection of the basic rights of the most unprotected collectives and we intend that it serve as a precedent for prevent similar actions in the future. A final sentence of the High Court of Justice of Madrid support the reason to the Fundación Secretariado Gitano and determinate that it was a case of violation of rights of a Roma family from La Cañada Real.
The right to housing is recognized both in international human rights law in international treaties that Spain has ratified and that are part of the domestic legal system, in accordance with art. 96.1 of the Spanish Constitution and is also regulated in article 47 of the Constitution. +info at https://www.gitanos.org/actualidad/archivo/127993.html
