Although there is no national refugee legislation, a draft refugee law is under preparation. Legislation adopted in 1996 permits homosexuals to live together in a formal relationship with the same legal rights as in marriage, minus the right to adopt children or to be artificially inseminated. Virtually everyone in the country holds at least nominal membership in the state-supported Lutheran Church. Freedom of worship is respected, and discrimination on the basis of race, language, social class, or sex is outlawed. About 76 percent of all eligible workers belong to free trade unions, and all enjoy the right to strike.
Disabled persons enjoy extensive rights in employment and education.
The contry s judiciary is independent. The law does not provide for trial by jury, but many trials and appeals use panels comprised of several judges. All judges, at all levels, serve for life. Gender-based equality is guaranteed by law. There remains about a 20 percent gap in earnings between men and women in comparable jobs.