A half-day seminar at the University of Malta discussed the EU Racial Equality Directive and the legislation by which it has recently been transposed into Maltese law.

The seminar began with a short introduction by the Chief Justice, Vincent De Gaetano, who gave an overview of the role played by anti-discrimination rules in the Maltese Constitution and under the European Convention Act and he was followed by a number of lawyers and leading civil servants, who analysed the directive in detail and explored the legal and administrative mechanisms through which individuals are now protected against racial discrimination in Malta.

The main speaker was David Zammit, who lectures at the Faculty of Law. He summarised key features of the Racial Equality Directive and discussed the manner in which it has been transposed into Maltese law, highlighting certain problematic areas. Anthony Azzopardi from the Department of Industrial and Employment Relations and Sina Bugeja from the National Commission for the Promotion of Equality also contributed by explaining the procedures followed in dealing with claims of racial discrimination inside and outside the field of employment.

The European Community has for long been active against discrimination and at the time of its creation one of its most pressing missions was to reconcile a continent divided by nationalistic and ethnic conflicts. For many years the focus was on preventing discrimination on the grounds of nationality and sex discrimination.

1997 was a major turning point when the member states agreed to some far reaching changes to the treaty. Following the entry into force of the Amsterdam Treaty, the Community was given new powers to combat discrimination on the grounds of racial or ethnic origin, religion or belief, disability, age and sexual orientation, and the power to combat sex discrimination was widened. In 2000, the Council unanimously adopted the Racial Equality and Employment Equality Directives and the Community Action Programme. In Malta, a law meant to transpose the Racial Equality Directive was enacted in April this year and the Equality Commission was also set up.