The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has ruled that Denmark’s law on parallel societies, commonly known as the “ghetto law,” is potentially incompatible with the EU directive on equal treatment. Dina Hashem, Senior Legal Advisor at Amnesty International Denmark, described the ruling as a significant step in protecting human rights and ensuring equality for all people. The ECJ found that the ghetto law could lead to direct discrimination based on ethnicity, potentially violating EU anti-discrimination law, with the Danish High Court now responsible for the final judgment.
Hashem emphasized that the ghetto law must be amended to eliminate discriminatory provisions. She highlighted that the right to equal treatment regardless of ethnic origin is a fundamental principle that all EU member states are obligated to uphold in national legislation. The ECJ ruling makes it clear that national laws cannot permit discrimination, whether in legislation or in the legal system.
Amnesty International has criticized Danish politicians for ignoring repeated warnings about the discriminatory impact of the ghetto law. Under the law, residents in targeted areas have been forcibly relocated and apartment blocks demolished, a situation that Hashem stated must end through legal reform.
The ghetto law targets residential areas with high concentrations of ethnic minority residents and has been widely criticized for violating the EU directive on equal treatment. The case brought before the Court of Justice of the European Union involved residents evicted from social housing in Mjølnerparken in Copenhagen and Schackenborgvænge in Ringsted, based on criteria established under the ghetto law.
