Universität Wien

950143 VU EU Anti-Discrimination Law (2025S)

3.00 ECTS (1.00 SWS), Universitätslehrgänge
Continuous assessment of course work
MIXED

This is a fee-based continuing education (master's) program/certificate program offered by the Postgraduate Center. Please note that you must be admitted to a continuing education (master's) programe/certificate program * to participate. For further information regarding continuing education (mster's) programs/certificate programs, please visit: https://www.postgraduatecenter.at/en/

Registration/Deregistration

Note: The time of your registration within the registration period has no effect on the allocation of places (no first come, first served).

Details

max. 20 participants
Language: English

Lecturers

Classes

Currently no class schedule is known.

Information

Aims, contents and method of the course

This course offers an introduction to the legal framework and basic concepts of EU anti-discrimination law. It will also feature a legal philosophical part to explore a key normative principle underlying anti-discrimination law in modern liberal democracies.
The following key topics will be covered:

Basic Concepts
- direct/indirect discrimination and intersectional discrimination, harassment and instruction to discriminate
- Justified differential treatment (e.g. positive action measures and reasonable accommodation)

Legal framework with a focus on substantive anti-discrimination law
Part I: Substantive Law
- Overview of primary and secondary EU anti-discrimination law
- Council of Europe (CoE) law with a focus on the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR)
- Introduction to protected grounds
- Introduction to selected areas of protection: employment & access to goods and services
Part II: Procedural Law
- Institutions and procedural issues (e.g. enforcement of anti-discrimination law, burden of proof)

Thoughts from Legal Philosophy
- Focus on the concepts of autonomy and equal freedom

Assessment and permitted materials

Overall assessment
- Class participation (25 %)
- Moodle Test (25%)
- Short Reflection at the end of the course (50%)

Minimum requirements and assessment criteria

0-49 %: 5 (fail)
50-59 %: 4 (sufficient)
60-70 %: 3 (satisfactory)
71-84 %: 2 (good)
85-100 %: 1 (excellent)

Examination topics

More information will be published on moodle.

Reading list

Slides and texts will be provided via Moodle.
For an overview of the legal framework and basic concepts, confer:
Ellis/Watson, EU Anti-Discrimination Law, 2nd Edition (2013)
- Chapter 1: Introduction (p. 1-42)
Fredman, Intersectional discrimination in EU gender equality and non-discrimination law, Publications Office of the European Union (2016)
- Chapter 1 & 2 (p. 27-38)
Council of Europe, European Court of Human Rights & European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (2018): Handbook on European non-discrimination law : 2018 edition. Publications Office of the European Union.
- Chapter 6: Procedural Issues (p. 229-251)
Suggested reading from the field of legal philosophy:
- Baer (2009): Dignity, liberty, equality: A fundamental rights triangle of constitutionalism. The University of Toronto Law Journal, 59(4), 417–468 (in particular pages 448-468)
- Dworkin, A Matter of Principle (2000), Chapters 8 & 9
- Holzleithner (2024): Law and Social Justice: Intersectional Dimensions. In The Routledge International Handbook of Intersectionality Studies (1st ed., pp. 251–263)
- For an introduction to Elisabeth Holzleithner’s concept of autonomy in English cf. chapter 2.3 “The paradigm of autonomy” in Holzleithner, 'Sexuality, gender, and the law: Queer perspectives in legal philosophy', in Andreas R. Ziegler, Michael Lysander Fremuth, and Berta Esperanza Hernández-Truyol (eds), The Oxford Handbook of LGBTI Law (online edn, Oxford Academic, 23 Jan. 2024)
- Rössler (2002): Problems with Autonomy. Hypatia, 17(4), 143–162

Association in the course directory

Last modified: We 12.02.2025 12:47