Clause 9
Equality Bill
11:45 am
Evan Harris (Oxford West and Abingdon, Liberal Democrat)
I am looking at my briefing again. As I understand it, because the regulations with respect to the EU race discrimination directive were introduced under section 2 of the European Communities Act 1972, they could not go further than the provisions of the directive. Therefore, when they were originally introduced, the new regulations could not cover race discrimination complaints brought on the grounds of colour and nationality. That means that for the new definitions of indirect discrimination and harassment, the shift in the burden of proof relating to the genuine occupational requirement exception will apply only to discrimination on grounds of race, ethnic or national origin, and not to colour or nationality.
That was the previous position as I understood it, but I thought that it had been dealt with effectively in primary legislation. There was primary legislation, and the Government were not restricted—as they had been—to implementing that directive through secondary legislation. I hope that my understanding is correct—if it is not, I will apologise.