Law on Prevention of Discrimination of Disabled Persons Adopted

20 April 2006

The Association of Students with Disabilities greeted the adoption of the Law on Prevention of Discrimination of Persons with Disabilities. Goran Pavlovic, Association�s Executive Director emphasized the importance of the fact that the Law now provides for sanctioning of discriminatory practices in the Court.

The Skupstina (Parlieament) of Serbia adopted the Law last Monday. The main idea of the Law is to provide for inclusion of persons with disabilities in all areas of social life.

The Law provides for prevention of discrimination in employment, education, healthcare and other services, and other areas of life. The intolerance and promotion of discrimination by authorities and institutions are defined by this Law as sercious forms of discrimination, for which high fines are prescribed.

ASD emphasizes that this is the first anti-discrimination law in Serbia.

"After long negotiations and hard work on the draft, the Law included penal provisions that increase the strength of the Law and provide concrete instrument of legal protection. The fines for private persons and legal entities that commit an act of discrimination range between 5,000 and 500,000 Dinars. We hope that this is just the first in a series of laws that will improve the social status of disabled persons and prevent discrimination. We also hope that the universal anti-discrimination law will be adopted soon�, says ASD.

The Association reminds that discrimination is one of the biggest problems faced not only by disabled persons, but also the other marginalized groups and individuals.

"It is good that this long awaited Law was finally adopted. Its passing was postponed on several occasions, primarily because of disagreement over the penal provisions, which were ultimately included in the text. Without such provisions, this would not be a law, but rather some pamphlet or declaration�, said Pavlovic and announced that ASD intends to monitor the implementation of the Law.

According to official estimates, there are between 700.000 and 800.000 disabled persons in Serbia.