Suchergebnisse

This chapter focuses on combating unlawful discrimination; a battle firmly entrenched in both Swedish and EU law. Hand-in-hand with eradicating unlawful discrimination are issues of access to justice, the ability of individuals to seek and obtain effective remedies for unlawful discrimination through institutions of justice. The focus of this contribution is on three vital aspects necessary for disadvantaged communities to have access to justice. The first is effective, proportional and dissuasive remedies for discrimination claims. Closely tied to this are aspects two and three, whether the Swedish justice system is financially accessible for discrimination plaintiffs and whether legal counsel is available to such plaintiffs. This contribution examines the institution of discrimination damages (diskrimineringsersättning) as newly created in the Swedish 2008 Discrimination Act, both as intended by the legislature to increase access to justice and as applied by the Labour Court (Arbetsdomstolen, 'AD'). The intention and application of the law will be assessed against an access to justice analysis focusing on the award of damages as well as trial costs and fees, and access to legal counsel for plaintiffs.