The City Administration for General Affairs of the City of Novi Sad dismissed the requests for subsequent birth registration of three legally invisible Roma persons referring to the “current situation in Novi Sad, with ever greater influx of persons of Roma nationality claiming that they and their children were born in Novi Sad” and expressing a fear that “hasty, irresponsible and reckless” acting upon their requests “would cause numberless requests of a similar kind by persons of Roma nationality”.
Articles 4, 6, 25 and 24 of the Law on the Prohibition of Discrimination.
The City Administration for General Affairs of the City of Novi Sad dismissed the requests for subsequent birth registration of three legally invisible Roma persons referring to the “current situation in Novi Sad, with ever greater influx of persons of Roma nationality claiming that they and their children were born in Novi Sad” and expressing a fear that “hasty, irresponsible and reckless” acting upon their requests “would cause numberless requests of a similar kind by persons of Roma nationality”.
The defendant based its decision on the fact that the applicants were members of Roma ethnic minority, thus, through the remarks on Roma origin, the defendant expressed its attitude that the persons of Roma ethnicity do not speak the truth, in which way it discriminated against S.E, K.E. and F.E. by stating humiliating remarks about the ethnic minority they belong to (…) The defendant unjustifiably has deprived these persons of their right to legal identity guaranteed by the Constitution, because of their personal characteristics, and has thus violated the principle of equality and committed an act of direct discrimination.
The defendant did not have the intention to insult, humiliate or separate Roma population as a whole nor its members as individuals, so, in this actual case, the used wording caused a wrong and undesired impression of the attitude and acting of the defendant.
Defendant was governed by personal features of the submitter of the request and made the unjustified difference between these and other submitters regarding their national affiliation, (…) and placed them in an unfavourable position in comparison to other submitters of requests who are not of Roma nationality, which is an act of direct discrimination.
Violation