Terminology
The ERRC sometimes use words which are specialised to human rights, legal work and Romani issues.
We made a list of some of these words with their definitions.
Activism
Efforts to promote, impede, or direct social, political, economic, or environmental reforms with the desire to make improvements in society.
Adjournment
Putting off or postponing the proceedings; ending or dismissing any further business by a court, legislature, or public official—either temporarily or permanently.
Admissibility
Any allowable testimonial, documentary, or tangible evidence that may be introduced to a judge or jury.
Advocacy
Activities which aim to influence decisions within political, economic, and social systems and institutions.
Advocacy Research
Research that is carried out with the intention of providing evidence and arguments that can be used to support a particular cause or position.
Affirmative action
Action favouring those who tend to suffer from discrimination; positive discrimination.
Agency
The capacity of individuals to express their own needs, feelings, opinions as well as to make their own choices
Actio Popularis
A lawsuit brought by a third party on behalf of many people in the interest of the public as a whole.
Antigypsyism
The specific form of racism towards Roma, Sinti, Travellers and any group who are stigmatised as ‘gypsies’ in the public imagination. It is historically constructed and present in discriminatory structures and practices which have a degrading effect, producing disadvantages, segregation and inequality.
Campaigning
An organized course of action against the violation of human rights
Case Law
The law as established by the outcome of former cases.
Cause of action
A set of facts sufficient to justify a right to sue; the cause or reason why a party can make a legal case under the law.
Cigan/Tsigan
Term used to describe Roma. Amongst most Romani communities this is a highly offensive racial slur. It originates from the Greek word "atsinganoi" meaning "untouchable".
Civil and Political Rights
The class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's ability to participate in the civil and political life of the society and state without discrimination or repression.
Civil Society
The community of non-governmental organisations, individuals and institutions which manifest the common interest and will of citizens.
Claimant
The party who initiates a lawsuit before a court.
Coercive sterilisation
Carrying out surgical or other procedures which result in a person being unable to have children without them giving informed consent.
Community organising
The coordination of cooperative efforts and campaigning carried out by local residents to promote the interests of their community.
Constitution
A body of fundamental principles to which a state or other organization is acknowledged to be governed.
Defamation
The action of damaging the good reputation of someone; slander or libel.
Disaggregated data
Information that has been compiled into summaries of data and then broken down in component parts or smaller units of data (e.g. ethnicity, gender, employment). Typically for the purposes of public reporting or statistical analysis
Discrimination
The unjust or prejudicial treatment of different categories of people, especially on the grounds of race, age, or sex.
Environmental Racism
The placement of low-income or minority communities in the proximity of environmentally hazardous or degraded environments, such as toxic waste, pollution and urban decay.
Equality body
Independent organisations assisting victims of discrimination, monitoring and reporting on discrimination issues, and promoting equality.
Fascism
Extreme nationalism, the belief in strong autocratic control of the people by a single person or party.
Feminism
The theory of the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes.
Forced eviction
The involuntary removal of persons, families and groups from their homes and communities
Forced sterilization
Carrying out a surgical or other procedure against a person’s will which results in them being unable to have children.
Freedom of Information
Laws that allow access by the general public to data held by national governments
Gender
The range of characteristics referring to masculinity and femininity.
Gender equality
The state in which access to rights or opportunities is unaffected by gender.
Genocide
The deliberate killing of a large group of people, especially those of a particular nation or ethnic group.
Grassroots
A movement or organization that uses collective action from the local level to effect change
Gypsy
A term used to describe Roma. Amongst most Romani communities this is an offensive racial slur. It derives from the word "Egyptian" due to the misconception that Roma arriving in Great Britain originated in Egypt.
Hate crime
A crime motivated by racial, sexual, or other prejudice, typically one involving violence.
Hate speech
Hate speech is described as speech, gesture or conduct, writing, or display which is forbidden because it incites violence or prejudicial action against a protected group
Porajmos
The Romani genocide or the Romani Holocaust. Historians estimate that between 300,000 and 1.5 million Roma were killed by the Nazis and their collaborators.
Human dignity
The idea that a person has the right to be valued and respected, and to be treated ethically.
Human rights
The moral principles or norms that describe certain standards of human behaviour, and are regularly protected as legal rights in municipal and international law. They are commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights "to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being", and which are "inherent in all human beings" regardless of their nation, location, language, religion, ethnic origin or any other status.
Implementation
The process of putting a decision or plan into effect; execution.
Inclusion
The process of improving the terms on which individuals and groups take part in society—improving the ability, opportunity, and dignity of those disadvantaged on the basis of their identity.
Indirect discrimination
Practices, policies, laws or rules which applies to everyone in the same way, but have a worse effect on some people than others.
Institutional racism
A form of racism expressed in the practice of social and political institutions.
Integration
A process in which all members participate in dialogue to achieve and maintain peaceful social relations. Social integration does not mean forced assimilation.
Internally Displaced Person
Someone who is forced to flee his or her home but who remains within his or her country's borders.
Intersectionality
The interconnected nature of social categorizations such as race, class, and gender as they apply to a given individual or group, regarded as creating overlapping and interdependent systems of discrimination or disadvantage.
Legal Rights
A right that enjoys the recognition and protection of the law.
Legislation
A law or set of laws suggested by a government and made official by a parliament
LGBTQ
An acronym standing for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and those who identify as queer or are questioning their sexual identity
Libel
A published false statement that is damaging to a person's reputation
Litigant
A litigant is a person who is involved in a civil legal case, either because they are making a formal complaint about someone, or because a complaint is being made about them.
Marginalization
Treatment of a person, group, or concept as insignificant or peripheral.
Migrant
A person who moves from one place to another in order to find work or better living conditions.
Multiple discrimination
Discrimination against one person on the basis of more than one aspect (e.g. being Romani, Muslim and a woman).
Nationalism
A political, social, and economic system characterized by promoting the interests of a particular nation, particularly with the aim of gaining and maintaining self-governance, or full sovereignty, over the group's homeland.
Natural Rights
Natural rights are those that are not dependent on the laws or customs of any particular culture or government, and so are universal and inalienable
Negative Rights
A right not to be subjected to an action of another person or group; negative rights permit or oblige inaction.
NGO
Non-governmental organisation. They are usually non-profit organizations independent of governments and international governmental organizations that are active in humanitarian, educational, healthcare, public policy, social, human rights, environmental, and other areas to effect changes according to their objectives.
Nonbinding
Something that doesn't hold someone to a promise.
Ombudsman
An official appointed to investigate individuals' complaints against a company or organization, especially a public authority.
Othering
View or treat (a person or group of people) as intrinsically different from and alien to oneself.
Persecution
Hostility and ill-treatment, especially because of race or political or religious beliefs; oppression
Plaintiff
A person who brings a case against another in a court of law.
Police profiling
The practice carried out by law enforcement officials of targeting individuals for suspicion of crime based on the individual's race, ethnicity, religion or national origin
Positive discrimination
Action favouring those who tend to suffer from discrimination; affirmative action.
Positive rights
A right to be subjected to an action or another person or group; positive rights permit or oblige action.
Precedent
A principle or rule established in a previous legal case that is either binding or persuasive for a court or other tribunal when deciding subsequent cases with similar issues or facts.
Prejudice
Preconceived opinion that is not based on reason or facts.
Prosecution
The institution and conducting of legal proceedings against someone in respect of a criminal charge.
Private sector
The part of the national economy that is not under direct state control.
Public Policy
Government policies that affect the whole population
Public sector
The part of an economy that is controlled by the state.
Racism
Prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against someone of a different race based on the belief that one's own race is superior. This can be either on an individual level or through systems, institutions and societal structures.
Ratification
The action of signing or giving formal consent to a treaty, contract, or agreement, making it officially valid.
Refugee
A person who has been forced to leave their country in order to escape war, persecution, or natural disaster.
Remedy
Also known as judicial relief or a judicial remedy. It is the means with which a court of law, usually in the exercise of civil law jurisdiction, enforces a right, imposes a penalty, or makes another court order to impose its will.
Repression
The action of subduing someone or something by force.
Roma
Largest ethnic minority in Europe. Romani people originated in India and migrated to Europe in waves hundreds of years ago.
Segregation
The action or state of setting someone or something apart from others.
Self-expression
The expression of one's feelings, thoughts, or ideas, especially in writing, art, music, or dance.
Sexuality
A person's sexual orientation or preference.
Slander
The action or crime of making a false spoken statement damaging to a person's reputation
Social Justice
Justice in terms of the distribution of wealth, opportunities, and privileges within a society.
Stateless person
Someone who is "not considered as a national by any state under the operation of its law".
Stereotype
A widely held but fixed and oversimplified image or idea of a particular type of person or thing.
Strategic Litigation
A method that can bring about significant changes in the law, practice or public awareness via taking carefully-selected cases to court. The clients involved in strategic litigation have been victims of human rights abuses that are suffered by many other people.
Trafficking
To illegally trade or deal in human beings, a specific commodity or a service
Victimisation
The action of singling someone out for cruel or unjust treatment.
Third Party Intervention
A procedure to allow a non-party, called intervenor to join ongoing litigation, either as a matter of right or at the discretion of the court, without the permission of the original litigants.
