Report on measures to combat discrimination: directives 2000/43/EC and 2000/78/EC: country report/update 2006: Germany

The Directives aim to provide legal tools protecting individuals against discrimination in the public and in the private sphere. The values the Directives aim to protect are therefore part of the core of the German legal system. The regime of legal regulations envisaged by the Directives have, in addition, already partly been a reality of Germanyu0092s legal system as regards discrimination based on sex (which is not covered by this report) and disability. These regulations and their interpretation by federal courts include the definition of discrimination,the shift of the burden of proof, legal standing and a regime of sanctions. The final implementation of the Directives through the AGG and accompanying legislation is therefore not a radical new start for German law but the further development of relevant parts of the existing law.