The definition of discrimination

• Author: Vickers, Lucy
• Pages: 13-26

13

2 THE DEFINITION OF DISCRIMINATION

2.1 Grounds of unlawful discrimination explicitly covered

The following grounds of discrimination are explicitly prohibi ted in the main legislation

(listed in the In troduction section, the main legislation transposing and implementing the

directives) transposing the two EU anti-discrimination directives :

UK

− sex (incl. gender reassignment, married/ civilly partnered status/ preg nancy)

− colour

− nationality (including citizenship)

− ethnic origins

− national origins

− disability

− sexual orientation

− religion or belief

− age

NI (in addition to the grounds above)

− race

− belonging to the Irish Traveller community

− political belief

2.1.1 Definition of the grounds of unlawful discrimination withi n the directives

a) Racial or ethnic origin

Race

The term ‘racial origin’ is not used in UK legislation. The RRO (art. 5(1)) (NI) provides that

‘“racial grounds” means any of t he following grounds, namely colour, race, nationality

(including citizenship), ethnic and national origins’.

The EqA provides (Section 9) that ‘race’ includes colour, na tionality and ethnic or national

origin and that, ‘A racial group is a group of persons defined by reference t o race; and a

reference to a person’s racial group is a reference to a racial group into which the pers on

falls’. There is no definition in statute or case law of ‘racial origin’; since the first Race

Relations Act8 (RRA) in 1965 it has been clear that, as in Recital (6) of the Race Directive,

the term has never been used to imply an acceptance of any theories regarding separat e

human races.

Section 9 EqA, as amended, r equired the Government to introduce secondary legislation

to make caste an aspect of race, thus making caste discrimination a form of race

discrimination. Following the Employment App eal Tribunal case in which it was accepted

that discrimination on the basis of caste could fall within discrimination on the basis of

ethnic origin,9 the Government decided in 2018 to repeal the amendment to the Equality

Act 2010, thereby removing the obligation to introduce specific protection for caste

discrimination.

Nationality is protected as part of the protection against race discrimination under Section

9 Equality Act 2010. ‘National origins’ is broader than citizenship and can cover

8 Race Relations Act 1965, 08.11.1995, available at:

www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1965/73/contents/enacted.

9 Employment Appeal Tribunal, Chandhok v Tirkey [2015] IRLR 195 19.12.2014, available at:

www.bailii.org/uk/cases/UKEAT/2014/0190_14_1912.html.