What is the intent of Human Rights Legislation?
The main intent of human rights legislation is to remedy the situation for the person or group discriminated against and prevents further discrimination-the intent is not to punish the individual or company who has discriminated. The Ontario Human Rights Code provides for civil remedies, not criminal penalties. Persons or companies found to have discriminated are not sent to jail but can be made to compensate a complainant or make changes in the way they conduct their affairs. One major difference between human rights legislation and criminal law lies in the different standards of proof applied to evidence at a board of inquiry. In criminal law, allegations must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt; whereas, the standard of proof under the Code, as in civil law, is on the balance of probabilities. In other words, did the discrimination more likely occur than not? The Commission, which has carriage of the complaint at a tribunal hearing, has the responsibility to prove the allegations. O
