Equalities and Human Rights Update:9th June 2010
If we have to make some sense of, or have a better understanding of, or may be to draw a comprehensive picture of the state of Equalities in order to address inequalities, we have to consult around 116 pieces of equality legislations among which are:
30 Acts, 38 Statutory Instruments, 11 Codes of practice and 12 EC Directives and Recommendations.
Not long ago we have been dealing mainly with Race, Disability and Gender (Sex) as dominant equality strands. The establishment of the Equality Act 2006 paved way for the replacement of the Commission for Racial Equality (CRE), the Disability Rights Commission (DRC) and the Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) to form the Commission for Equalities and Human Rights (CEHR) otherwise known as Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC). The new Commission also for the first time provided institutional support for tackling discrimination on the grounds of Age, Religion or Belief and Sexual Orientation. The new Commission was expected to lead in promoting Human Rights and Equal Opportunity for every individual to participate in the society, and fostering good relations between different groups of people. It places Equality firmly in the context of people’s fundamental rights and freedoms. As it is, there are numerous inconsistencies between the Main Discrimination Acts.
There will also be conflicts between the Older Equality Rights (Race, Disability and Sex) and the Newer Equality Rights (Age, Sexuality and Religion or Belief).The complexity of the current and the newer legislation the Single Equality Act has already brought in a gulf between “What people think Equality is about” and “What the Law actually is”.
The Equality Act 2006 was also a precursor to the Single Equality Act whose aim was to combine all the equality enactments (legislative instruments dealing with the equality strands) within Great Britain and provide comparable protections across all equality strands.
As a society we are a mixture of complex individuals with diverse characteristics that influence how we see the world around us, and hence, considerations had to be given to many diverse views, suggestions and demands while we formulate legislations, which have greater impact on people.While dealing with the Single Equality Bill, before it became an Act called “The Equality Act 2010” lot of consultation exercises were carried out to explore all known issues and concerns relating to equalities.Finally the Bill, having received Royal Assent in April 2010, has become the Act.
What does the Act do?
Unifies and harmonises all provisions of 116 Equality Legislations for all Equality Strands of Age, Disability, Gender, Race, Religion and Faith, Sexual Orientation, Gender Reassignment, Marriage and Civil Partnership and Pregnancy and Maternity.It also strengthens all protected characteristics and extends provision to include:
· Socio-Economic duty on Public Authorities;
· Improved positive action in employment, and
· Duel Discrimination.
It also introduces new Public Sector Equality Duty and Specific Duties.
Now what happens?
It will be the difficult part. Implementing the provisions of the Act by translating them into practically workable and realistic solutions to be embedded into every function, policy and practice of each department of the designated public bodies are great tasks. Assessing and finding the proportionality of equality considerations of departmental functions and practices in compliance with the legislative requirement, and drawing the right balance with the departmental and the core strategic priorities of the public body will be another complicated issue.
While the above is only one side of the coin, the other is, the promotion of greater understanding of the latest developments in the equalities front among the wider society comprising of diverse individuals, groups, communities, and voluntary and community sector organisations with extremely diverse depth of knowledge and understanding of the issues in question.
In order to give effect to the Act and its provisions the above have to be executed.But, it is also extremely important to give utmost regards for Human Rights compatibility in every thing we do.
Human Rights issues:
The Human Rights Act 1998 has had its share of criticism and controversy over the years. Some elements of the Act have been subject to different interpretations and invocation by different sections of our society. All the major political parties have been examining the framework of the human rights legislation in order to develop alternative models for human rights protection.One was to create a “Bill of Rights” and responsibilities for Britain.
The Labour party, while in power proposed that they would not amend the nature and extent of protection provided by the Human Rights Act (HRA) but could build on by including express reference to “responsibilities and new rights” such as Economic and Social Rights and Children’s Rights.
The Conservative party, before coming to power and while in opposition stated that they would replace the HRA with a “British Bill of Rights and Responsibilities” which places greater emphasis on responsibilities, and amend and reduce the scope of the mechanisms relating to human rights protection.
The Liberal Democrats on the other hand, before coming to power under the coalition, proposed a “Freedom Bill” which they said would Restore and protect our most important liberties.
As it is at present, the Equality and Human Rights Commission is exploring and developing a series of principles, which underpin discussions around Human Rights Act, and researching about how bills of rights have been developed in other countries etc. But, since the new government is only in its maiden voyage, we have to wait and see how developments in Human Rights field would emerge and if so in what form. Until such time the HRA is as active as it has been.
G.A.Lux.Anandarajah
