The Coalition for Equal Opportunities asks the Human Rights Defender about the enforcement of the principle of equal treatment between private entities

The Coalition for Equal Opportunities requested the Human Rights Defender (Rzecznik Praw Obywatelskich, RPO)  to be given access to the legal opinion regarding potential unconstitutionality of the RPO’s involvement in discrimination cases concerning private entities.

At the third working meeting of the Coalition, Prof. Irena Lipowicz, RPO, stated that in her opinion the Human Rights Defender had no legal authority to act for equal treatment between private entities.

She based her argument on a legal opinion discussing doubts as to the constitutionality of such RPO’s involvement.

Article 11 (2) of the Act on Implementing Certain EU Regulations On Equal Treatment provides that the Human Rights Defender may take action to enforce the principle of equal treatment between private entities. In response to the doubts raised to this stipulation, the Coalition requested, under the public interest disclosure procedure, to be provided with the legal opinion mentioned by the RPO.

The Coalition for Equal Opportunities is an informal platform bringing together a wide array of organisations acting for human rights protection and promotion of the principle of equality and non-discrimination. The members of the Coalition are the leading Polish expert organisations with years of experience in combating discrimination. The primary goal of the platform is to lead a content-based dialogue with the government who is responsible for developing comprehensive and effective anti-discrimination legislation. The Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights is a member of the Coalition.