General terms and conditions for Equitas services
Equitas’ legal department provides free information, advice and assistance to people who consider themselves to be victims of discrimination linked to Islamophobia, i.e. all acts of discrimination and violence based on real or supposed membership of the Muslim religion, as defined and punished by law.
The Seizing party is the person who contacts Equitas electronically or by telephone, to obtain information on his/her rights, with a request related to the situation of discrimination described above.
Equitas can only intervene following a direct referral by a person who believes he or she is the victim of discrimination and agrees to disclose his or her identity. Equitas does not intervene on the basis of anonymous reports.
Due to the large number of requests received by Equitas, and despite our best efforts to support the victims who apply to us, priority will be given to applications from applicants who have signed up with Equitas partners.
IT IS AGREED AS FOLLOWS:
Article 1: In return for Equitas’ services, the Referring Party undertakes to provide the legal department with any information, documents or other items that may be useful for the rapid and efficient processing of the request and the resolution of the dispute, within the scope of the association’s activities. If these elements are not communicated within 48 hours, Equitas may terminate the handling of the case, without prior notice. The Referring Party is also obliged to inform Equitas of any developments in the case or of any new documents or information that may emerge as a result of the case. The Seizing party is also obliged to inform Equitas in advance of any steps taken on its own initiative, particularly if it has referred the matter to other bodies or structures. Should the Referring Party take steps without informing Equitas in advance, or without seeking legal advice from Equitas, the Association declines all responsibility for any consequences that may arise.
The complainant can write to us at contact@equitas.site to follow up on the progress of their case or to address any potential complaints.
Throughout his or her dealings with Equitas, the Seizing Party is required to be courteous to the Association’s staff. If the basic rules of correctness are not observed, the Association may cease all contact with the Seizing party at any time.
The Seizing Party also undertakes not to communicate to a third party the telephone number or e-mail address of the lawyer in charge of his case without his prior consent.
Article 2: Equitas guarantees the confidentiality of the information and documents communicated to it by the Seizing party. All documents communicated by Equitas to the Seizing party, as well as all electronic exchanges with Equitas, in particular by transferring e-mails drafted by lawyers, may not be transmitted to third parties or published on social networks or any other medium, failing which Equitas shall be held liable. In the event that the Referring Party has referred a matter to another structure (association, administrative authority, etc.), he/she shall immediately inform Equitas, whether this referral was made before or after Equitas took charge of his/her case. Equitas will then decide whether or not to continue its assistance.
Article 3: In the event that another association wishes to intervene alongside the Complainant, the latter shall immediately inform Equitas, which will decide in agreement with the Complainant whether or not to respond favorably.
Article 4: In the event of an unfavorable outcome and disagreement with the Referring Party, and in the absence of an amicable solution, the terms of article 17 shall apply.
Article 5 : The referral to a Lawyer can only be made after a legal examination of the Referring Party’s file. Following this examination, the legal department will decide whether or not to refer the Referring party to one of the Lawyers in the Equitas network.
Article 6: In the event that the Seizing party wishes to abandon any action aimed at re-establishing his/her rights, he/she shall immediately notify the legal department, which will close his/her file.
Article 7: When the Complainant is put in contact with the Lawyer, they enter into a client/lawyer relationship. Consequently, they will agree with their counsel on the amount of fees related to the latter’s services. The Complainant will nevertheless continue to regularly inform Equitas’ legal department of the progress of the initiated procedure, and of any new action or procedure undertaken.
Article 8: When the Seizing party decides to make his or her case public directly, or through the media and/or any other communication medium, including when this decision is taken in agreement with his or her Lawyer, he or she shall inform Equitas without delay and associate it with this action before undertaking it. Failing this, Equitas will withdraw from the case without prior notice.
Article 9 : By adhering to the present document, the Referring Party agrees that the Lawyer may communicate to Equitas the acts performed in the context of the aforementioned dispute, without prejudice to the professional secrecy to which the Lawyer is subject.
Article 10 : By ratifying the present document, the Seizing Party undertakes to communicate any document directly or indirectly related to the case for which the Lawyer has been appointed and which is the subject of the present document and guarantees that the documents communicated to the Lawyer have been obtained in a fair and lawful manner.
Article 11 : The Seizing party will be received by the Lawyer according to the terms agreed with his/her counsel. If he/she is unable to attend, he/she must inform the Lawyer by telephone, fax, e-mail or post 48 hours before the appointment.
Article 12 : The Seizing Party shall refrain from producing in Court or before any third party, any document which he (she) has not previously submitted to the Lawyer.
Article 13: In the event of a disagreement with the Lawyer, they shall inform Equitas’ legal department without delay, which may possibly intervene as a mediator, without being bound by an obligation of result.
Article 14: In the event that the Seizing party intends to voluntarily substitute his or her initial counsel with another lawyer or any other person, he or she shall immediately inform the Lawyer and the Equitas legal department and shall remain bound by the contractual conditions established in this event by the agreement he or she has ratified.
Article 15: Any clause herein which may be interpreted as contradicting or equivocal with regard to the stipulations of the fee agreement concluded with the Lawyer shall not take precedence over the latter.
Article 16: The Referring Party is hereby informed that any failure on the part of the Lawyer, due to an external and/or insurmountable factor for the Lawyer and/or Equitas, cannot be invoked against the Association and its liability will not be sought.
Article 17 : The Referring Party is hereby informed that any dispute arising in its relations with Equitas, in the absence of an amicable solution, will result in the automatic and informal dismissal of its case. It will also result in the automatic withdrawal of the Lawyer.
Article 18: The parties agree that any disputes arising in the execution of this agreement, in the absence of an amicable solution, fall under the jurisdiction of any court within the geographical jurisdiction of the Brussels courts.
Article 19: By ratifying these terms without reservation, the Complainant agrees to respect the confidentiality of the content of this agreement, without time limitation, by undertaking to prevent any direct or indirect disclosure to any third party of this agreement, with the exception of the Lawyer.
Article 20: From the moment Equitas is contacted, the complainant agrees that their case may be subject to communication, subject to respect for their confidentiality.
Personal Data:
“The information collected from this form and the files created during your report, request for information, or testimony, is subject to computer processing intended for:
– Maintaining and updating statistics,
– The production of the annual report on the state of Islamophobia in Europe. The recipient(s) of the data are: The legal department.
In accordance with Articles 12 to 21 of the European Regulation 2016/679 of April 27, 2016, you have the right to access and rectify information concerning you. You can access information concerning you by contacting: The legal department.
You can also, for legitimate reasons, object to the processing of data concerning you. To learn more, consult your rights on the CNIL website for French complainants.
