Prof. Dr. Christian Armbrüster, Freie Universität Berlin                       Berlin, Dec 13, 2009

 

 

Proposals for CTLS Courses to be offered in Fall 2009

 

 (2) European and International Anti-discrimination Law

 

Anti-discrimination Law has recently become more and more important in many countries. Originally a topic that was mainly located in labour law, the principle of non-discrimination on grounds such as ethnic origin, religion, gender or age is now widely regarded as an integral part of general contract law. Thus, in the last decade essential steps towards comprehensive rules on non-discrimination in contractual relationships have been taken by the EU, which partly even go beyond those that apply in the U.S. where the topic had already been on the agenda much earlier. The focus of the course will be on the various situations of discrimination and their legal consequences in different countries. Topics include such different questions as the scope of discretion of Church organizations in labour law or the justification for differences in insurance premiums relating to gender. Furthermore, the course aims at discussing some more fundamental questions that Anti-discrimination Law raises, such as its compatibility with the principle of private autonomy in contractual relationships and its interrelationship with the constitutional principle of Equality.

 

Evaluation: Writing Seminar with final paper (4000 words), class participation

 

 For either of these courses, co-operation with a Colleague will be very welcome.