The commission for equality and human rights and the enforcement of discrimination legislation: an effective balance between individual litigant support and the use of strategic regulatory mechanisms?

Abstract

This thesis will consider current domestic anti-discrimination legislation and its associated institutional support structure in the light of the Government's creation of a Commission for Equality and Human Rights (CEHR). The CEHR incorporates and merges the existing equality Commissions, namely, the Commission for Racial Equality, Equal Opportunities Commission and the Disability Rights Commission, and will also have responsibility for the promotion of Human Rights. In addition, the CEHR has been given a wide remit that encompasses the recent Employment Equality Regulations concerning discrimination on the grounds of religion or belief, sexual orientation, and age. This thesis seeks to analyse the enforcement mechanisms bestowed upon the CEHR by the Equality Act 2006, against the backdrop of current anti-discrimination legislation and the enforcement provisions available to the existing equality Commissions. Such a consideration is of particular importance given the widespread prevalence of discrimination in modern society and the CEHR's ambitious remit. The issue is far from straightforward: there exists a particular tension between the use of the CEHR’s strategic regulatory mechanisms and the provision of individual litigant support. It will be argued that, for example, emphasising positive duties, and the adoption of contract compliance, will provide a more effective platform from which to satisfy the CEHR's general duties, especially when considering the strict budgetary constraints it will be required to operate within. Such considerations are to be measured not only against the intentions of the current and proposed legislation but also against the intended outcomes and aims of the CEHR itself, taking into account the experiences of the existing Commissions, particularly in recent years, during which the use of enforcement procedures have decreased substantially. Proposals will be put forward outlining possible alternate or additional approaches, and amendments to the CEHR's enforcement procedures.