Cantonal Equality Act on Gender and Sexual Orientation - Purpose (LCP)

1. The purpose of this law is to promote the realization of legal and actual equality with respect to gender and sexual orientation in all areas of life, and to combat discrimination based on gender, specifically of women and men as well as due to non-binary identity, transgender identity, or intersex conditions, and sexual orientation.

1. The term "gender" as defined by this law encompasses the biological sex characteristics, gender identity, gender expression, and societal attributions of gender.

2. Sexual orientation describes to whom a person is emotionally or sexually attracted.

3. Discrimination refers to the unjustified disadvantage or unequal treatment of individuals or groups based on gender or sexual orientation and can occur in direct, indirect, or intersectional form.

1. The canton, the municipalities, and the bearers of public responsibilities shall take appropriate measures to promote the realization of legal and actual equality for individuals discriminated against on the basis of their gender or sexual orientation.

2. They shall ensure that individuals are not discriminated against, whether directly or indirectly.

3. They shall take into account the particular risks of intersectional discrimination against individuals who, in addition to gender and sexual orientation, possess other characteristics as per § 8 paragraph 2 of the Constitution of the Canton of Basel-Stadt.

1. The realization of equality is a cross-cutting task for which each department is responsible within its areas of expertise.

2. The executive council sets the priorities for promoting the realization of equality once per legislative term.

3. To implement the priorities, the executive council issues an action plan to which each department contributes measures.

4. The executive council reports to the Grand Council once per legislative term on the development of equality in the canton of Basel-Stadt and on the results of the measures.

1. The Canton establishes an Office for Equality. This office is committed to the equality of women and men, as well as the equality of individuals who are discriminated against due to non-binarity, transidentity, intersexuality, or sexual orientation.

2. The Office has, in particular, the following duties

a) It advises the entities listed in § 3 Paragraph 1, especially in determining the priorities according to § 4 Paragraph 2 and in the development and implementation of corresponding measures within the framework of the action plan according to § 4 Paragraph 3.

b) It coordinates the determination of priorities according to § 4 Paragraph 2 and the preparation of the action plan according to § 4 Paragraph 3, and is responsible for their monitoring.

c) It reviews draft cantonal statutes for their impact on equality.

d) It develops its own measures and projects and implements them.

e) It serves as a contact point for equality issues from third parties.

f) It promotes external advisory and support services.

g) It raises public awareness for equality-related issues.

h) It networks with civil society organizations, cantonal and national equality offices, academia, and private entities.

3. It may commission third parties to undertake tasks, particularly in the areas of counseling, information, and awareness-raising.

1. The Government Council shall establish an equality commission that provides advisory support to all departments.

2. The Government Council shall issue implementing provisions regarding the election procedures, composition, and responsibilities.

1. The canton, the municipalities, and the entities responsible for public duties shall ensure the collection and evaluation of gender-disaggregated data, provided that the gender perspective is relevant for the purpose of data collection and evaluation.

1. The canton seeks a balanced representation of the genders in strategic and supervisory bodies, notably in the boards of publicly owned institutions and enterprises.

2. In strategic and supervisory bodies that are fully appointed by public entities of the canton, these entities ensure, within their powers of appointment, that women and men are each represented by at least one third.

3. If public entities of the canton only partially appoint a strategic and supervisory body, they comply with the one-third quota according to paragraph 2 within their power of appointment and advocate, for those remaining to be elected, that the composition of the entire body meets the requirements of paragraph 2.

4. In negotiations for agreements, the governing council ensures that regulations concerning strategic and supervisory bodies also conform to the requirements of paragraph 2.

5. The foregoing paragraphs also apply to replacement elections.

1. Anyone who represents the canton ex officio in a strategy and supervisory body of a private or mixed-economy enterprise shall ensure that the composition of the entire body complies with the requirements of § 8 Paragraphs 1 and 2.

1. In disputes concerning employment relationships related to gender or sexual orientation, the procedure before the Cantonal Conciliation Authority for Discrimination Matters shall apply.

2. The regulations concerning the conciliation authority apply to both private employment relationships under the Code of Obligations and public employment relationships under cantonal or municipal law.

3. The special provisions of the federal Gender Equality Act concerning procedures and protection against dismissal for employment relationships under the Code of Obligations shall apply mutatis mutandis to public employment relationships under cantonal or municipal law, unless the public law provides further-reaching provisions in favor of the employees.

1. As a parity conciliation authority pursuant to Art. 200 para. 2 of the Swiss Civil Procedure Code (Civil Procedure Code, CPC) of December 19, 2008, the Cantonal Conciliation Office for Discrimination Issues is established.

2. Discrimination disputes arising from public-law employment relationships, concerning gender or sexual orientation, must be submitted to the conciliation office before initiating administrative appeal proceedings; if the discrimination is claimed only as a secondary issue, recourse to the conciliation office is optional.

3. In public-law employment relationships, the conciliation procedure can be conducted as soon as a written decision by the superior authority regarding the alleged discrimination is available, or such a decision is not issued within 30 days upon request.

1. In disputes concerning discrimination within public employment relationships, the conciliation body advises the parties and, wherever possible, facilitates a settlement.

2. In civil law disputes, the tasks of the conciliation body are determined by the Code of Civil Procedure.

3. The parties may appoint the conciliation body as an arbitration tribunal.

4. Furthermore, the conciliation body performs the additional tasks assigned to it by law and regulation.

1. The Arbitration Body consists of the Presidency, the Vice-Presidency, and twelve members, and is composed of at least fifty percent women.

2. The organizations of employees and employers, as well as public employers, participate in the Arbitration Body with a delegation of four members each.

3. The individual panel for an arbitration hearing is composed in accordance with the provisions of the Civil Procedure Code.

4. The Presidency and Vice-Presidency of the Arbitration Body each consist of one person who meets the eligibility requirements for court presidencies pursuant to the Law on the Organization of Courts and the Public Prosecutor's Office (Court Organization Law, GOG) of June 3, 2015.

1. The members of the Conciliation Board, as well as the Presidency and Vice-Presidency, are elected by the Government Council upon the proposal of the represented organizations.

2. Before the election of the Presidency or Vice-Presidency, the Government Council consults the Office for Equality.

1. The executive council appoints a recording secretary for the proceedings of the conciliation board.

2. If necessary, extraordinary recording secretaries are appointed by the conciliation board with the approval of the competent department.

1. The term of office for the presidency, the vice presidency, the members of the arbitration board, and the clerical staff is four years.

1. The conciliation body is administratively and disciplinarily subject to the supervision of the competent department.

2. In its judicial and conciliatory functions, the conciliation body is independent.

1. The costs of the mediation board, including the remuneration of the president, vice-president, members, secretaries, and the office, shall be borne by the canton.

1. The presidency, the vice presidency, the members, as well as the secretarial personnel of the arbitration board may not appear as witnesses or informants in a subsequent administrative proceeding concerning legal disputes negotiated before the arbitration board.

1. For civil disputes, Articles 202 et seq. of the Code of Civil Procedure (ZPO) apply. These provisions also apply analogously to proceedings in public law disputes.

2. The chairperson instructs the proceedings, conducts the necessary fact-finding, convenes the meetings, and directs the proceedings.

3. Before convening the conciliation board, the chairperson may present settlement proposals to the parties.

4. The conciliation board meets as a three-member panel.

1. Anyone who, without a valid reason, fails to comply with a summons from the conciliation authority and does not arrange for representation, can be fined up to CHF 500.

2. If the proposal for settlement is rejected and no appealable decision has yet been issued, the authority represented before the conciliation authority must issue such a decision at the same time as the rejection of the settlement, or immediately after being informed of the rejection by the opposing party.

3. If the conciliation procedure is initiated after an appealable decision has been issued within the appeal period and no settlement is reached, the appeal period begins anew.

1. The conciliation body informs the competent department annually in anonymized form about the conducted proceedings.

1. The Executive Council shall issue the necessary implementing provisions.