The largest number of complaints to the Council for the Prevention and Elimination of Discrimination and Ensuring of Equality are submitted by people from urban areas. Most of the times the persons are discriminated on grounds of disability, gender and sexual orientation. These are the findings of the Nondiscrimination Coalition, which brings together a number of nongovernmental organizations. It formulated a series of recommendations for improving the Council’s activity.

During the first ten months of 2015, the Council received over 130 complaints. Most of these referred to the lack of access to public goods and services and to discrimination at work.

To improve the Council’s activity, experts of the Nondiscrimination Coalition suggested a series of recommendations. “Changes should be made to the legislation for the members of the Council to work permanently, not only to call extraordinary meetings to examine the complaints. We recommend modifying the Contravention Code and including penalties for all the forms of discrimination,” said lawyer and human rights expert Ana Nani.

According to the experts, the personnel units at the Council should be increased. It is recommended to extend the statute of limitations for holding accountable those who hamper the Council in its work.

The Council for the Prevention and Elimination of Discrimination and Ensuring of Equality is a collegial body with the status of legal entity of public law that was constituted with the aim of ensuring protection against discrimination and the equality of all the persons who consider they are victims of discrimination.