Landesgleichstellungsgesetz Nordrhein-Westfalen

With the Equal Opportunities Act for the State of North Rhine-Westphalia (Landesgleichstellungsgesetz - LGG) passed in November 1999, the state legislature for the first time adopted a comprehensive "cross-sectional regulation" to realise not only the better advancement of women, but also the actual equality of women and men in public administration. This law has since been amended several times. In practice, the application of the law is not always easy. Like any law, the LGG needs to be interpreted on a case-by-case basis. Although the competences of equal opportunities officers are generally defined in the Act, the details of their duties must also be specified for individual cases or derived from the general provisions. This article is intended to support the equal opportunities officers, but also the heads of departments and other persons responsible for the application of the LGG in implementing the legislator's ideas on equal opportunities policy. The focus of the presentation is on the key questions of interpretation that the provisions raise for application in practice. The focus is on practical explanations. The case law as of the first half of 2021 is taken into account. Dr Bernhard Burkholz is presiding judge at the Administrative Court of Frankfurt am Main, he has been involved for many years with issues of public service law, in particular equality law, and is primarily responsible for the law of financial services supervision and staff representation law.