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Does the Equal Opportunity Ombudsman really fight discrimination or waste taxpayers’ money and ignore court decisions? Such a question arose for the representatives of the Kaunas City Polyclinic (KMP).
The order is not subject to appeal.
The Ombudsman’s Office for Equal Opportunities and politicians have been repeatedly attacked in the public space of the KMP since 1974. The building of the Šilainiai subdivision, located in Aleksotas, was not adapted for the disabled.
The polyclinic representatives initially submitted documents and installed a ramp for the disabled in May, but this was not in the interest of the Ombudsman for Equal Opportunities Agneta Skardžiuvienė. Her office went to court. The single instance court had approved the service, but the ombudsman was subsequently ruled in the wrong on several occasions.
The Supreme Administrative Court of Lithuania (SACL) determined, and reiterated in mid-September, that this was not discrimination against patients. This order is not subject to appeal.
The SACL has indicated that the polyclinic is located in an old building, and “the unconditional requirement to adapt to the special needs of the disabled must be met when these buildings are constructed, reconstructed, repaired or the purpose of the buildings is changed.”
“In such cases, the requirements of the normative construction technical documents must be followed. One of these requirements is that the main entrance and access to the building must be arranged in such a way that people with disabilities are not equipped with a ramp specific sizes, “said Renalda Kablytė, KMP’s chief legal specialist.
According to the court, the polyclinic administration did not aim to discriminate against patients with disabilities, in addition, the reconstruction of the building was planned.
Photo by Justina Lasauskaitė
Adapted in spring
Paulius Kibiša, the director of the KMP, told Kauno Diena that he expected such a court decision. “Even before the ombudsman went to court, we had started preparing an application for funding and making the building accessible to the disabled, we had clearly stated this in writing to the Ombudsman’s Office for Equality of Opportunities. Everything we had planned has already been implemented, the building has been adapted. “
The last time the ombudsman went to court and requested further litigation, the Aleksotas unit of KMP had already been able to take in the disabled.
“We are pleased to announce that during the implementation of the EU project” Increasing the efficiency of primary personal health care activities “, the Aleksotas subdivision of the Kaunas City Polyclinic has a new entrance for the disabled, a toilet for the disabled, the reconstruction of the entrance to the building and repair works that guarantee the free movement of the disabled The repair works were carried out with funds from the European Regional Development Fund and the Kaunas City Polyclinic ”, announced the polyclinic in your website in May of this year.
Will re-examine
Comptroller A. Skardžiuvienė commented to “Kauno dienai” that the service had begun to re-examine the victim’s complaint regarding possible discrimination on the basis of disability.
“The SACL has not denied the fact of discrimination in the Aleksotas Family Health Care Division of the Šilainiai section of the Kaunas City Polyclinic. We note that the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with disability, ratified by Lithuania ten years ago, establishes that all parties the availability of the physical environment, transport, information and communications, including information and communication systems and technologies, as well as other facilities or services available to the public in urban and rural areas. “This provision covers buildings, roads, vehicles and other indoor and outdoor facilities. , including schools, housing, medical institutions, and workplaces. Therefore, according to the Convention, the inaccessibility of buildings providing public services is considered discrimination against persons with disabilities, “A. Skardžiuvienė sent the comment.
The Ombudsman for Equal Opportunities criticized the court’s decision for “causing concern among human rights lawyers and appealing to the Office about a possible conflict with established jurisprudence.”
A particularly flawed practice of the ombudsman is to interpret the SACL’s decision in his own way and to create the image of the polyclinic as a more discriminatory institution.
“Lack of access to public buildings is one of the most serious problems that restricts access to public services (health, culture, post office, etc.) for people with disabilities and, therefore, is considered a manifestation of discrimination hint. Although we are sure that the newly formed judicial practice may negatively affect the legal protection of people with disabilities, “said A. Skardžiuvienė.
Is it appropriate to continue the litigation over an object that is already accessible to people with disabilities?
“We are happy that the polyclinic building is finally accessible for people with mobility problems. However, the SACL’s decision forced the service to additionally verify the fact of possible discrimination against the complainant in 2018, ”repeated the ombudsman.
The entrance to the polyclinic for the disabled has been installed for a long time, but the Equal Opportunities Service did not stop its investigation. (Photo by Justina Lasauskaitė)
Amazing interpretations
Such statements by the Ombudsman for Equal Opportunities surprised R. Kablytė, Chief Legal Specialist of KMP.
“It is a particularly flawed practice of the Comptroller’s Office to interpret the SACL’s decision and create an image of the polyclinic as a more discriminatory institution. It should be noted that the SACL’s decision annulled it.
It noted that the Ombudsman continues to publicly disseminate false statements that the SACL allegedly allowed further discrimination against the disabled or “the SACL did not deny the fact of discrimination in the Aleksotas family health care subdivision of the Šilainiai section of the polyclinic of the Kaunas city “.
“In its statements, the Comptroller’s Office criticizes the decision taken and in force by the Supreme Judicial Authority, thus questioning the principles of the rule of law and the rule of law at the institutional level,” the KMP lawyer was surprised.
Photo by Justina Lasauskaitė
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