The role of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights in the work of Equality Bodies and National Human Rights Institutions
Virtual seminar — 20-22 October 2021
Recent EU commitments to strengthening the application of the Charter of Fundamental Rights recognised NHRIs as key actors for doing so. But how can NHRIs’ vast potential to implement the Charter be unlocked? How can they best use it when protecting and promoting human rights?
ENNHRI, together with the European Network of Equality Bodies (Equinet) and the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA), is organising a virtual seminar from 20 to 22 October 2021 to explore these and other crucial questions. An opening session for heads of institutions is followed by four half-day training modules targeting legal experts from relevant institutions.
Programme
Opening session of the seminar
This session will discuss the role of NHRIs and Equality Bodies in the new EU Charter Strategy, new funding opportunities, as well the new horizontal fundamental rights conditionality for the EU funds. It will feature speakers from the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), the European Commission, as well as the principals of FRA, Equinet and ENNHRI.
» Target audience: Heads of institutions and legal staff.
Module 1 – Introducing the EU Charter of fundamental rights and its added value at national level
This first module introduces the Charter, its added value, its field of application, and its relationship with the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). It will also include a legal update on national follow-up to key CJEU judgements.
» Target audience: Legal experts from NHRIs/Equality Bodies. Registration is limited to two persons per institution.
Module 2 – Focusing on equality and non-discrimination
This explores the added value of the Charter in equality law and relevant case law of the Court of Justice of the EU. It will also deal with topical issues such as the use of the Charter in strategic litigation.
» Target audience: Legal experts from NHRIs/Equality Bodies. Registration is limited to two persons per institution.
Module 3 – Train-the-trainer
This targets NHRIs and EBs as potential multipliers of Charter training. Working with case studies and digital tools, this ‘crash course’ will give hands-on advice on how to develop and facilitate effective Charter training.
» Target audience: Legal experts. Registration is limited to one person per institution.
Module 4 – Focusing on the Rule of Law
This module will discuss issues related to judicial independence and the wider question of how the Charter relates to the Rule of Law. The relevant case law of the Court of Justice of the EU will also be presented. Join to discover how the Charter and fundamental rights are relevant to addressing Rule of Law challenges in EU Member States.
» Target audience: Legal experts from bodies and institutions. Registration is limited to two persons per institution.
Resources
- Key takeaways from the EU Charter virtual seminar
- ENNHRI publication “Implementation of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights – NHRI Activities”
- ENNHRI Action Plan on strengthening the application of the Charter of Fundamental Rights in the European Union (2021-2024)
- EU Strategy to strengthen the application of the Charter
- European Commission’s Annual Reports on the application of the Charter
- EU Council Conclusions (20/09/2019) on the Charter of Fundamental Rights after 10 Years: State of Play and Future Work
- FRA’s webpage on Charter resources
- FRA’s Fundamental Rights Report 2021
- The CJEU’s Factsheet on the field of application of the Charter
