Making improvements to clarify and strengthen the human rights law.

A Local Law to amend the New York city charter and the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to making improvements to clarify and strengthen the human rights law, and to repeal and replace section 8-102 of the administrative code of the city of New York, relating to definitions of terms in the human rights law, and to repeal sections 8-103, 8-104, 8-105 and 8-106 of the administrative code of the city of New York, relating to the functions, powers and duties of the commission on human rights and its relations with city departments and agencies

This bill would amend the New York City Human Rights Law (HRL) to improve its organizational structure and enhance its clarity. The bill would make technical amendments necessary for restructuring and modernizing the language in the HRL, as well as changes clarifying the scope of the law’s protections for victims of domestic violence, sex offenses and stalking. The bill would move certain definitions into and out of section 8-102 of the Code and would apply a uniform style to the definitions section. The bill would also amend the Charter provisions setting forth the Human Rights Commission’s powers: consolidating duplicative provisions and repealing them from the Code, clarifying existing enforcement authority and amending the annual report due date. Additionally, the bill would move Chapters 8-11 of Title 8 to more subject-matter appropriate titles. Finally, the bill would update cross-references in other provisions of the Code to reflect the structural amendments to Title 8.