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We recognise that UK anti-discrimination legislation has developed in a piecemeal and inconsistant way. We are pressing for a new equality act to codify and simplify the exising provisions. We are also pressing for effective legislation at European and domestic levels to combat all forms of discrimination.
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The preamble to the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights states:
And, in Article 1:
JUSTICE's work on equality and diversity is centred on the practical outworking of these principles in our domestic equality legislation. Thirty years on from the enactment of the Sex Discrimination Act 1975 and the Race Relations Act 1976 JUSTICE considers that the time is now right to review our equality legislation to ensure that it is:
We therefore welcome the Government setting up the Equalities Review (http://www.theequalitiesreview.org.uk/) and the Discrimination Law Review (http://www.womenandequalityunit.gov.uk/dlr/index.htm). The key areas of work for the Discrimination Law Review are:
JUSTICE has contributed
to the Equalities Review by responding
to their initial consultation exercise and to their interim
report for consultation. For further information on the Equalities
Review see www.theequalitiesreview.org.uk. We have also assisted the Equality and Diversity Forum in setting up a series of seminars to inform the Equalities Review and the Discrimination Law Review, see http://www.edf.org.uk/seminar.htm for further information. We have prepared two responses to the government's consultation paper Equality and Diversity: the way ahead. Equality and Diversity: The way ahead implementing the employment and race directives - responding to the Government's consultation paper and draft regulations (January 2003) and Equality and Diversity: Making it happen (February 2003). In October 2003 we responded to the governments consultation on age discrimination Equality and Diversity; Age Matters. In June 2006 we responded to the governments consultation on extending protection from discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation in the fields of access to goods, facilities and services, 'Getting Equal: Proposals to outlaw sexual orientation discrimination in the provisions of goods and services'. In August 2004 we responsed to the government's White Paper Fairness for All: A New Commission for Equality and Human Rights. Single
Equality Act In July 2004 we published
a leaflet "Keep It Simple" setting out the case for a single
Equality Act. Click here for a
pdf version of the leaflet. Equality Bill 2003 In November 2002, Joan Harbison, Chief Commissioner of the Equality Commission, welcomed the government's announcement that it will be pressing ahead with work on the development of a Single Equality Act for Northern Ireland, and producing regulations to implement EU equality obligations. http://www.equalityni.org/whatsnew/archiveindiv.cfm?StoryID=227 The Equality Commission
for Northern Ireland has issued several Position Papers and had extensive
consultation and discussions on the form and content of a single equality
act, click here for further details In February 2003 Julie
Mellor, Chair of the Equal Opportunities Commission, said that Britain
needs modern and consistent equality law that reflects how society has
changed over the last 30 years. http://www.eoc.org.uk/cseng/news/28_feb_lester.asp The Disability Rights
Commission believes strongly that the government should introduce a Single
Equality Act (SEA), that is, an Act which provides for all strands the
same protection from discrimination and the same enforcement powers, as
well as a positive public sector duty. Click here for Bert Massie's speech
to the JUSTICE conference in May 2003 A number of important
organisations have also called for a single Equality Act Other jurisdictions Canada does not have a single Equality Act but each of the main legal provisions for equality are simple and clear and combine each of the strands. The relevant legal instruments are:- Canadian Charter of
Fundamental Rights and Freedoms 1982 Canadian Human Rights
Act 1985 Employment Equity
Act 1995 Article 14 ECHR prohibits discrimination, but it is not an independent equality right. It only gives protection from discrimination in relation to the enjoyment of the other rights in the Convention. Following discussions in the Council of Europe, Protocol 12 was drawn up to provide a stronger, free-standing equality right, and opened for signature in November 2000. JUSTICE worked to secure the new Protocol. Since it was opened for signature 35 Member States have signed it and 11 have also ratified it. It came into force in the countries that have ratified it with effect from 1 April 2005. Click here for current table of signatures and ratifications. For the JUSTICE paper setting out the implications of Protocol 12 for the UK click here. Protocol 12 will give similar protection to that under Article 26 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. JUSTICE has written a series of articles on this, click here, here and here for pdf versions of these. However, in spite of calls from JUSTICE and other leading organisations, the UK government says it has no plans at present to sign and ratify it. Click here for a pdf version of the JUSTICE leaflet Ensuring Equality: Do we need Protocol 12? Article 13 of the EC Treaty allows the EU to tackle discrimination on the grounds of racial or ethnic origin, religion or belief, disability or age. So far, two Directives have been adopted, and supported by JUSTICE. The first Directive (the 'Race Directive') deals with discrimination on grounds of racial or ethnic origin in the fields of employment, social protection and social security, social advantages, education, grants and scholarships, access and supply of goods and services, and cultural activities. The second (the 'Framework Directive') prevents discrimination on the grounds of racial or ethnic origin, religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation, but only in the fields of employment and occupation. JUSTICE gave evidence to the House of Lords EU Sub-Committee in 2000, and our proposed redefinition of indirect discrimination was taken up by the European Parliament and inserted into both Directives. We also made submissions to the DfEE on the Framework Directive. We will continue to monitor the implementation of these Directives and their effect on domestic law. UN
Committee for the Elimination of all forms of Race Discrimination (CERD)
JUSTICE was one of
the contributors to the joint
NGO Shadow Report to the CERD Committee. The report was considered
by the CERD Committee on 6 and 7 August 2003. The Committee issued its
concluding observations
on 21 August 2003. JUSTICE's Press
Release issued on 22 August 2003: UN calls for major changes in UK
race laws to ensure compliance with international law.
The Act extends protection against race discrimination to cover all actions of public authorities and creates a new duty on public authorities to take action to eliminate racism. Originally the government proposed that the new public authority liability should be limited only to direct discrimination. JUSTICE's human rights audit made it clear that without a provision to outlaw indirect discrimination the Bill would fall short of human rights standards. The Bill was later amended to cover indirect discrimination by public authorities. We remain concerned at the exception for immigration and asylum in the general scheme of the Act. This exception permits Ministers to authorise officials 'to discriminate with respect to certain individuals or classes of cases on grounds of nationality, national or ethnic origin'. European
Network Against Racism (ENAR) Article
14 ECHR Religious discrimination in the UK Article 9 of the ECHR establishes a right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion, as well as the freedom to manifest a religion or belief. Article 14 forbids religious discrimination in the exercise of any other ECHR rights. The HRA now makes these provisions directly applicable to public authorities within the UK. The new EU Framework Directive (see above) will also lead to new UK legislation, at least in relation to employment. The lack of comprehensive provisions to prevent religious discrimination has created a number of problems and anomalies. The government has recognised the need to legislate on religious discrimination and has commissioned a research report from the University of Derby. JUSTICE is concerned to ensure that a unified system is put in place so that the Courts are not left trying to interpret and balance three different and separate sources of law. Click here for an article entitled Substantive Rights and Equal Treatment in Respect of Religion and Belief: towards a better understanding of the rights and their implications (Gay Moon and Robin Allen QC, February 2003) JUSTICE has been concerned about the increase of Islamaphobia within the UK and the paucity of provisions to counter this. We have therefore concluded that the crime of incitement to racial hatred should be extended to cover religious hatred. This would act as an important measure to protect vulnerable minority communities and a marker of societal disapproval of such behaviour. The existing provisions on incitement to racial hatred cover some minority religious communities, such as the Sikhs or Jews, but not others such as the Muslims or Buddhists. This is inequitable and unjustifiable. JUSTICE believes that this would be a necessary and appropriate extension of the existing law as it would set down a clear marker that religious hatred is not acceptable. Click here for the JUSTICE House of Lords Response to the Select Committee on Religious Offences Inquiry, August 2003 and here for the joint Briefing prepared by JUSTICE, the British Muslim Research Centre and the British Humanist Association for the House of Lords (April 2004). |
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