Achieving equality encompasses both: equal access to and exercise of rights by people experiencing discrimination and intolerance, and improvement of their individual and collective situation in various fields. These fields include, inter alia, education, employment, housing and health; political representation, power and influence on decisions; recognition, status and standing; and relationships of care, respect and solidarity with other groups and institutions; (§ 18 of the EM to GPR 2)

Adjudicatory bodies include any bodies that have adjudicatory competences placed outside the court system, such as equality bodies with a decision-making function; (§ 73 of the EM to GPR 2)

Advocacy in connection with denigration, hatred or vilification shall mean the explicit, intentional and active support for such conduct and attitudes with respect to a particular group of persons; (§ 7 of the EM to GPR 15)

Alienation shall mean the withdrawal of a person from the society in which he or she lives and of his or her commitment to its values; (§ 7 of the EM to GPR 15)

Antigypsyism is a specific form of racism, an ideology founded on racial superiority, a form of dehumanisation and institutional racism nurtured by historical discrimination, which is expressed, among others, by violence, hate speech, exploitation, stigmatisation and the most blatant kind of discrimination; (§ 15 of the preamble to GPR 13)

In light of its definition of racism (§ 1.a of the GPR No. 7), ECRI considers the racism framework as fitting to qualify the phenomena of hatred and discrimination against Muslims or those perceived as Muslims and deems it a specific form of racism. Whilst also using “anti-Muslim hatred” and “anti-Muslim prejudice”, ECRI refers to anti-Muslim racism and discrimination in order to characterise the complex and diverse array of hate speech and violence as well as any act of discrimination directed at Muslims or those perceived to be Muslims. (§ 8 and 9 of the GPR No. 5 (revised))

Antisemitism, see ECRI’s Opinion (2020) on the IHRA Working Definition of Antisemitism (2016). Also: GPR 15 (2015) referred to it as meaning prejudice against, hatred of, or discrimination against Jews as an ethnic or religious group; (§ 7 of the EM to GPR 15)

Condonation shall mean the excusing, forgiving or overlooking of particular conduct; (§ 7 of the EM to GPR 15)

Crimes against humanity shall mean any of the acts listed in Article 7 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court when committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack directed against any civilian population, with knowledge of the attack; (§ 7 of the EM to GPR 15)

Decision making function of equality bodies encompasses the function to take decisions on complaints. Among these equality bodies, two models can be distinguished: the first group of equality bodies can issue binding decisions and some of them can also impose sanctions. The second group of equality bodies issues recommendations […] that are not binding and do not impose sanctions; (§ 10 of GPR 2 and § 84 of the EM to GPR 2)

Denigration shall mean the attack on the capacity, character or reputation of one or more persons in connection with their membership of a particular group of persons; (§ 7 of the EM to GPR 15)

Differential treatment is wide and includes any distinction, exclusion, restriction, preference or omission, be it past, present or potential; (§ 12 of the EM to GPR 7 )

Direct racial discrimination shall mean any differential treatment based on a ground such as race, colour, language, religion, nationality or national or ethnic origin, which has no objective and reasonable justification. Differential treatment has no objective and reasonable justification if it does not pursue a legitimate aim or if there is not a reasonable relationship of proportionality between the means employed and the aim sought to be realised; (§ 1 of GPR 7 )

Discrimination shall mean any differential treatment based on a ground such as “race”, colour, language, religion, nationality or national or ethnic origin, as well as descent, belief, sex, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation or other personal characteristics or status, which has no objective and reasonable justification; (§ 7 of the EM to GPR 15)

Discrimination by association occurs when a person is discriminated against on the basis of his or her association or contacts with one or more persons designated by one of the enumerated grounds. This would be the case, for example, of the refusal to employ a person because s/he is married to a person belonging to a certain ethnic group; (§ 16 of the EM to GPR 7)

Effectiveness of equality bodies means that the equality body implements its functions and competences in a way and to a scale and standard that make a significant impact on the achievement of equality and the elimination of discrimination and intolerance; (§ 16 of the EM to GPR 2)

Gender shall mean the socially constructed roles, behaviours, activities and attributes that a given society considers appropriate for women and men; (§ 7 of the EM to GPR 15)

Hate crime^* is understood as a criminal offence committed with a hate element based on one or more actual or perceived personal characteristics or status, where:

a.     “hate” includes bias, prejudice or contempt;

b.    “personal characteristics or status” includes, but is not limited to, “race”, colour, language, religion, nationality, national or ethnic origin, age, disability, sex, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, and sex characteristics.

^*Recommendation of the Committee of Ministers to member States on combating hate crime (CM/Rec(2024)4) 

For further information about the notion of hate crime, see http://hatecrime.osce.org/what-hate-crime

Hate speech is the advocacy, promotion or incitement, in any form, of the denigration, hatred or vilification of a person or group of persons, as well as any harassment, insult, negative stereotyping, stigmatization or threat in respect of such a person or group of persons and the justification of all the preceding types of expression, on the ground of "race", colour, descent, national or ethnic origin, age, disability, language, religion or belief, sex, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation and other personal characteristics or status; it may take the form of the public denial, trivialisation, justification or condonation of crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity or war crimes which have been found by courts to have occurred, and of the glorification of persons convicted for having committed such crimes; (§§ 5 to 6 of the Preamble to GPR. 15). Against this background, in its Recommendation CM/Rec(2022)16 on combating hate speech, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe defined “hate speech” as all types of expression that incite, promote, spread or justify violence, hatred or discrimination against a person or group of persons, or that denigrates them, by reason of their real or attributed personal characteristics or status such as “race”, colour, language, religion, nationality, national or ethnic origin, age, disability, sex, gender identity and sexual orientation.

Hatred shall mean a state of mind characterised as intense and irrational emotions of opprobrium, enmity and detestation towards the target group; (§ 7 of the EM to GPR 15)

Heteronormativity can be defined as the institutions, structures of understanding and practical orientations that make heterosexuality seem coherent, natural and privileged. It involves the assumption that everyone is heterosexual, and that heterosexuality is the ideal and superior to homosexuality or bisexuality. Heteronormativity also includes the privileging of normative expressions of gender – what is required or imposed on individuals in order for them to be perceived or accepted as “a real man” or “a real woman” as the only available categories; (CommDH 2011, op. cit.)

Holocaust denial shall mean the act of denying, questioning or admitting doubts, in whole or in part, with the respect to the historical fact of the genocide of Jews during the Second World War; (§ 7 of the EM to GPR 15)

Homophobia shall mean prejudice against, hatred towards, or fear of homosexuality or of people who are identified or perceived as being bisexual, gay, lesbian or transgender; (§ 7 of the EM to GPR 15)

Hostility shall mean a manifestation of hatred beyond a mere state of mind; (§ 7 of the EM to GPR 15)

Incitement shall mean statements about groups of persons that create an imminent risk of discrimination, hostility or violence against persons belonging to them; (§ 7 of the EM to GPR 15)

Inclusion is an approach that values diversity and aims to afford equal rights and opportunities to everyone by creating conditions which enable the full and active participation of every member of society; (Information document for 6th cycle)

Independence of equality bodies means that they should have both de jure and de facto independence, be separate legal entities placed outside the executive and legislature, and have the necessary competences, powers and resources to make a real impact. They should function without any interference from the State, political parties or other actors and should not be given any instructions by them; they should be fully independent at institutional and operational level; (§§ 2 and 22 of GPR 2)

Integration is a two-way process with society, governments and local authorities facilitating, supporting and promoting the integration efforts of individuals; (Information document for 6th cycle)

Intersectional discrimination refers to a situation where several grounds interact with each other at the same time in such a way that they become inseparable and their combination creates a new ground; (§ 1 of the EM to GPR 14)

Irregularly present migrants should be understood as individuals – women, men and children - present in a member State that is not their country of origin, who do not, or no longer, fulfil the conditions under national law for entry or stay in that member State; (abstract to GPR 16)

Islamophobia - please check the anti-Muslim racism and discrimination section

LGBTI-phobia shall mean prejudice against, hatred towards, or fear of people who are identified or perceived as being lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or intersex;

LGBT people or LGBT persons is an umbrella term used to encompass lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender persons. It is a heterogeneous group that is often bundled together under the LGBT heading in social and political arenas. Sometimes LGBT is extended to include intersex and queer persons (LGBTIQ); (CommDH 2011, op. cit.)

Marginalisation shall mean making a group of persons feel or be isolated or unimportant and thereby limiting their participation in society; (§ 7 of the EM to GPR 15)

Media literacy shall mean the knowledge, skills and attitude required to engage with all forms of media, including, in particular, an understanding of its role and functions in democratic societies and the ability both to critically evaluate media content and to engage with media for the purpose of self-expression and democratic participation; (§ 7 of the EM to GPR 15)

Multiple discrimination refers to discrimination suffered on two or more enumerated grounds, for example, on the grounds of religion and gender as experienced by a Muslim woman; (§ 1 of the EM to GPR 14)

Negative stereotyping shall mean the application to a member or members of a group of persons of a generalised belief about the characteristics of those belonging to that group that involves viewing all of them in a poor light regardless of the particular characteristics of the member or members specifically concerned; (§ 7 of the EM to GPR 15)

People of African descent shall mean all people identifying themselves as being of African descent

Police those exercising (or having by law) the power to use force in order to maintain law and order in society, normally including prevention and detection of crime. This Recommendation applies regardless of how such police are organised; whether centralised or locally oriented, whether structured in a civilian or military manner, whether labelled as services or forces, or whether they are accountable to the state, to international, regional or local authorities or to a wider public. This includes secret security and intelligence services and border control officials. It also includes private companies exercising police powers as defined above; (§ 22 of the EM to GPR 11)

Positive action includes temporary and proportionate measures or strategies to counter the effects of past discrimination, to eliminate existing discrimination and to promote equality of opportunity. Paragraph 7(a) sets out a recommendation for member States to enact legislation permitting employers to adopt special temporary positive action measures. […] Examples of positive action by member States include the development of programmes that build employability skills, such as apprenticeships and traineeships for vulnerable groups; the provision of adult education in areas where such groups live including vocational training and qualifications for higher-skilled sectors; targeted scholarships and research fellowships for higher education; free access to language and literacy training; ensuring equal access to new technologies, or training programmes (with provision for child care) targeted at women from vulnerable groups; (§ 7 of the EM to GPR 14)

Promoting diversity means supporting a valuing of diversity and its added value in society and organisations. It includes making reasonable adjustments to take account of the practical implications of diversity; (§ 21 of the EM to GPR 2)

Promoting good relations between different groups in society entails fostering mutual respect, understanding and integration while continuing to combat discrimination and intolerance; (§ 21 of the EM to GPR 2)

Promotion and prevention function of equality bodies encompasses the promotion of equality and prevention of discrimination. It should include the competences to promote and achieve equality, prevent and eliminate discrimination and intolerance, and promote diversity and good relations between the different groups in society; (§§ 10 and 13 of GPR 2)

Queer is a term laden with various meanings and a long history, but currently often denotes persons who do not wish to be identified with reference to traditional notions of gender and sexual orientation and eschew heterosexual, heteronormative and gender-binary categorisations. It is also a theory, which offers a critical perspective into heteronormativity; (CommDH 2011, op. cit.)

“Race”: Since all human beings belong to the same species, ECRI rejects theories based on the existence of different “races”. However, ECRI uses this term in order to ensure that those persons who are generally and erroneously perceived as belonging to “another race” are not excluded from the protection provided for by the legislation; (footnote No. 1 of GPR 7)

In the context of its work, ECRI understands “racialisation” as the process of ascribing characteristics and attributes that are presented as innate to a group of concern to it and of constructing false social hierarchies in racial terms and associated exclusion and hostility.¹

¹ For more information please consult ECRI’s opinion on the concept of “racialisation”, adopted at ECRI’s 87th plenary meeting on 8 December 2021

Racial profiling shall mean the use by the police, with no objective and reasonable justification, of grounds such as race, colour, language, religion, nationality or national or ethnic origin in control, surveillance or investigation activities; (§ 1 of GPR 11)

Racism shall mean the belief that a ground such as “race”, colour, language, religion, nationality or national or ethnic origin justifies contempt for a person or a group of persons, or the notion of superiority of a person or a group of persons; (§ 1 of GPR 7)

Racist incidents consist of any incident which is perceived to be racist by the victim or any other person; (§ 62 of the EM to GPR 11)

Racist offences - ordinary offences (such as murder, assault and battery, arson or insult) committed with a racist motivation (racially-motivated offences), and other offences in which the racist element is inherent to the offence (such as incitement to racial hatred or participation in a racist organisation); (§ 63 of the EM to GPR 11)

Radicalisation shall mean the process whereby someone adopts extreme political, religious or social values which are inconsistent with those of a democratic society; (§ 7 of the EM to GPR 15)

Roma shall mean not only Roma but also Sinti, Kali, Ashkali, “Egyptians”, Manouche and kindred population groups in Europe, together with Travellers; (§ 7 of the EM to GPR 15)

Segregation is the act by which a (natural or legal) person separates other persons on the basis of one of the enumerated grounds without an objective and reasonable justification, in conformity with the proposed definition of discrimination. As a result, the voluntary act of separating oneself from other persons on the basis of one of the enumerated grounds does not constitute segregation; (§ 16 of the EM to GPR 7)

Sex shall mean a person’s biological status; (§ 7 of the EM to GPR 15)

Sex characteristics, the chromosomal, gonadal and anatomical features of a person, which include primary characteristics such as reproductive organs and genitalia and/or in chromosomal structures and hormones; and secondary characteristics such as muscle mass, hair distribution, breasts and/or structure”; (CommDH 2015, Human rights and intersex people, with reference to Maltese legislation)

Sexual orientation shall mean each person’s capacity for profound emotional, affectional and sexual attraction to, and intimate and sexual relations with, individuals of a different gender or the same gender or more than one gender; (§ 7 of the EM to GPR 15)

Sport means all forms of physical activity which, through casual or organised participation, aim at expressing or improving physical fitness and mental well-being, forming social relationships or obtaining results in competition at all levels; (§ 2 of the EM to GPR 12)

Status shall mean a person’s legal or factual situation, covering not only having a particular marital, migrant or professional status but also factors such as birth outside marriage, disability, financial position, health, imprisonment, membership of a trade union or other body and place of residence; (§ 7 of the EM to GPR 15)

Stigmatisation shall mean the labelling of a group of persons in a negative way; (§ 7 of the EM to GPR 15)

Strategic litigation consists of identifying and carefully selecting cases for litigation in order to clarify, promote and protect the rights of a whole group of people who are in a similar situation, and ensuring widespread publicity for such cases and dissemination of their results including through the media; (§ 80 of the EM to GPR 2)

Structural discrimination refers to rules, norms, routines, patterns of attitudes and behaviour in institutions and other societal structures that, consciously or unconsciously, present obstacles to groups or individuals in accessing the same rights and opportunities as others and that contribute to less favourable outcomes for them than for the majority of the population; (§ 20 of the EM to GPR 2)

Support and litigation function of equality bodies consists in providing support to people exposed to discrimination and intolerance and in pursuing litigation on their behalf; (§ 10 of GPR 2)

Transgender persons include persons who have a gender identity which is different from the gender assigned to them at birth and those people who wish to portray their gender identity in a different way from the gender assigned at birth. It includes those people who feel they have to, prefer to, or choose to, whether by clothing, accessories, mannerisms, speech patterns, cosmetics or body modification, present themselves differently from the expectations of the gender role assigned to them at birth. This includes, among many others, persons who do not identify with the labels “male” or “female”, transsexuals, transvestites and cross-dressers. A transgender man is a person who was assigned “female” at birth but has a gender identity which is “male” or within a masculine gender identity spectrum. A transgender woman is a person who was assigned “male” at birth but has a gender identity which is female or within a feminine gender identity spectrum. Analogous labels for sexual orientation of transgender people are used according to their gender identity rather than the gender assigned to them at birth. A heterosexual transgender man, for example, is a transgender man who is attracted to female partners. A lesbian transgender woman is attracted to female partners. The word transgenderism refers to the fact of possessing a transgender identity or expression; (CommDH 2011, op. cit.)

Transphobia shall mean prejudice against, hatred towards, or fear of transsexuality and transsexual or transgender people, based on the expression of their internal gender identity; (§ 7 of the EM to GPR 15)

Trivialisation shall mean making something seem unimportant or insignificant; (§ 7 of the EM to GPR 15)

Vilification shall mean the abusive criticism of one or more persons in connection with their membership of a particular group of persons; (§ 7 of the EM to GPR 15)

Violence shall mean the use of physical force or power against another person, or against a group or community, which either results in, or has a high likelihood of resulting in, injury, death, psychological harm, maldevelopment or deprivation; (§ 7 of the EM to GPR 15)

Vulnerable groups shall mean those groups who are particularly the object of hate speech, which will vary according to national circumstances but are likely to include asylum seekers and refugees, other immigrants and migrants, Black and Jewish communities, Muslims, Roma/Gypsies, as well as other religious, historical, ethnic and linguistic minorities and LGBT persons; in particular it shall include children and young persons belonging to such groups; (§ 7 of the EM to GPR 15)

War crimes shall mean any of the acts listed in Article 8 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court; (§ 7 of the EM to GPR 15)

Xenophobia shall mean prejudice against, hatred towards, or fear of people from other countries or cultures; (§ 7 of the EM to GPR 15)