Conference: Tackling racism and anti-Roma discrimination in the EU’s criminal justice systems

Fair Trials will be hosting a virtual conference Tackling racism and anti-Roma discrimination in the EU’s Criminal Justice Systems on: 

• Monday 7 December, 13:30-16:30 GMT/14:30-17:30 CET/08:30-11:30 EST

• Tuesday 8 December 13:30-16:30 GMT/14:30-17:30 CET/08:30-11:30 EST
   

Register below to attend any of the panels that will take place over the two days.

Background 

Across the world, the movement to fight racial disparities in criminal justice systems has been gaining momentum, and there is increasing awareness that structural racism leads to discriminatory criminal justice outcomes for various racial and ethnic groups.  

Racial prejudice is widespread in societies across Europe, and given the long history of persecution and continuing prevalence of socio-economic challenges, Roma are especially vulnerable to harmful stereotyping and negative societal attitudes.  However, there is only limited acceptance in many EU Member States that such attitudes are responsible for discriminatory criminal justice outcomes, and that more action is needed to fight racism not just in the police, but also throughout the legal system.  

In order to highlight how anti-gypsyism* affects criminal justice outcomes for Roma, Fair Trials has collaborated with the Hungarian Helsinki Committee, the Bulgarian Helsinki Committee, APADOR-CH, and Rights International Spain to research attitudes and perceptions of various stakeholders in criminal justice systems of four countries. This research exposes worrying levels of anti-gypsyism amongst criminal justice professionals, and a closer insight into how Roma face discrimination in criminal proceedings.

About the conference 

This event will bring together criminal justice experts, anti-racism activists, practicing lawyers, and policy-makers from across Europe and beyond to discuss:

• how racism and anti-gypsyism affect criminal justice systems in Europe; 
• the main findings of Fair Trials’ research on anti-gypsyism among criminal justice professionals;
• discriminatory policing and its impact on Roma and other minority ethnic communities; 
• prevalence of racial prejudice in criminal justice professions and their potential impact on defence rights; and 
• potential strategies for tackling racism in criminal justice systems and lessons to be learnt from other jurisdictions. 

Fill in your details below to register for any of the panels that will take place during the conference. We will send you more information about the panels and speakers, along with Zoom links, prior to the conference. You can also check our website for updates. 

*We use the term ‘anti-gypsyism’ because it covers racism and discrimination against Roma, Sinti and travellers and is favoured by the European Commission and many Roma rights activists. We are aware that there are differences of opinion about this term and are open to feedback about this and other terms we use when talking about these issues.
 

This event is funded by the European Union’s Rights, Equality and Citizenship Programme (2014-2020).