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Religion Or Belief, Equality and Human Rights in England and Wales

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Religion Or Belief, Equality and Human Rights in England and Wales Middlesex University Research Repository An open access repository of Middlesex University research http://eprints.mdx.ac.uk Donald, Alice ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8541-3530 (2012) Religion or belief, equality and human rights in England and Wales. Project Report. Equality and Human Rights Commission, Manchester, UK. [Monograph] Published version (with publisher’s formatting) This version is available at: https://eprints.mdx.ac.uk/15331/ Copyright: Middlesex University Research Repository makes the University’s research available electronically. Copyright and moral rights to this work are retained by the author and/or other copyright owners unless otherwise stated. The work is supplied on the understanding that any use for commercial gain is strictly forbidden. A copy may be downloaded for personal, non-commercial, research or study without prior permission and without charge. Works, including theses and research projects, may not be reproduced in any format or medium, or extensive quotations taken from them, or their content changed in any way, without first obtaining permission in writing from the copyright holder(s). They may not be sold or exploited commercially in any format or medium without the prior written permission of the copyright holder(s). Full bibliographic details must be given when referring to, or quoting from full items including the author’s name, the title of the work, publication details where relevant (place, publisher, date), pag- ination, and for theses or dissertations the awarding institution, the degree type awarded, and the date of the award. If you believe that any material held in the repository infringes copyright law, please contact the Repository Team at Middlesex University via the following email address: [email protected] The item will be removed from the repository while any claim is being investigated. See also repository copyright: re-use policy: http://eprints.mdx.ac.uk/policies.html#copy Equality and Human Rights Commission Research report 84 Religion or belief, equality and human rights in England and Wales Alice Donald, with the assistance of Karen Bennett and Philip Leach Human Rights and Social Justice Research Institute London Metropolitan University Religion or belief, equality and human rights in England and Wales Alice Donald, with the assistance of Karen Bennett and Philip Leach Human Rights and Social Justice Research Institute London Metropolitan University © Equality and Human Rights Commission 2012 First published Summer 2012 ISBN 978 1 84206 433 7 Equality and Human Rights Commission Research Report Series The Equality and Human Rights Commission Research Report Series publishes research carried out for the Commission by commissioned researchers. The views expressed in this report are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the Commission. The Commission is publishing the report as a contribution to discussion and debate. Please contact the Research Team for further information about other Commission research reports, or visit our website: Research Team Equality and Human Rights Commission Arndale House The Arndale Centre Manchester M4 3AQ Email: [email protected] Telephone: 0161 829 8500 Website: www.equalityhumanrights.com You can download a copy of this report as a PDF from our website: http://www.equalityhumanrights.com/ If you require this publication in an alternative format, please contact the Communications Team to discuss your needs at: [email protected] Contents Page Acknowledgments i Abbreviations ii Executive summary iii 1. Introduction 1 1.1 Aims of the report 1 1.2 Note on terminology 1 1.3 Context of the report 2 1.4 Methodology 6 1.5 Scope of the report 11 1.6 Guide to the report 12 2. Religion or belief in England and Wales 14 2.1 Introduction 14 2.2 The landscape of religion or belief in England and Wales 14 2.3 Cultural and religious diversity and multiculturalism 16 2.4 Religion or belief and the state 20 2.5 The role of religion or belief in the formation of law and public policy 25 2.6 Authority and representativeness within religion or belief groups 30 2.7 Conclusion 32 3. Discrimination on the grounds of religion or belief 35 3.1 Introduction 35 3.2 Definition and measurement of discrimination 35 3.3 Socio-economic discrimination 36 3.4 Perceived and reported discrimination 37 3.5 Discrimination in the workplace 39 3.6 Conclusion 40 4. The law on equality, human rights and religion or belief 41 4.1 Introduction 41 4.2 The right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion 41 4.3 Discrimination on the grounds of religion or belief 44 4.4 Contextualising legal cases 47 4.5 Selection of significant or high-profile cases 49 4.6 Conclusion 50 5. Case law on equality, human rights and religion or belief 52 5.1 Introduction 52 5.2 Matters of definition in relation to religion or belief 52 5.3 Article 9 in domestic case law 55 5.4 The „filters‟ used by domestic courts in religion or belief cases 57 5.5 The concept of reasonable accommodation 64 5.6 Conclusion 70 Page 6. Competing interests in relation to religion or belief 72 6.1 Introduction 72 6.2 Balancing competing rights 72 6.3 Competing interests in equality law 77 6.4 Debate about a hierarchy between protected characteristics 80 6.5 The issue of conscientious objection 83 6.6 Legal exceptions for religion or belief relating to employment 94 6.7 Legal exceptions for religion or belief relating to goods and services 99 6.8 The problem of legal „overstretch‟ 105 6.9 Conclusion 108 7. Responses to equality and human rights law in relation to religion or belief 111 7.1 Introduction 111 7.2 Attitudes to the law 111 7.3 The Christian „marginalisation‟ narrative 112 7.4 The role of litigation 119 7.5 The limitations of law 121 7.6 The role of the Equality and Human Rights Commission 124 7.7 Approaches to dispute resolution outside the courtroom 131 7.8 Ground rules for conducting public debate 134 7.9 Conclusion 138 8. Implementing equality and human rights in relation to religion or belief in the workplace 141 8.1 Introduction 141 8.2 Evidence about management handling of religion or belief 141 8.3 Survey on „managing equality, human rights and religion or belief in the workplace‟ 143 8.4 Problems and solutions related by interviewees 145 8.5 Guidance on religion or belief in the workplace 150 8.6 Conclusion 152 9. Implementing equality and human rights in relation to religion or belief in public services 154 9.1 Introduction 154 9.2 Health and social care 154 9.3 Education 161 9.4 Public sector equality duty 175 9.5 Conclusion 181 10. Conclusion: advancing debate and practice 183 10.1 Introduction 183 10.2 Areas of broad consensus 183 Page 10.3 The conduct of public debate 186 10.4 Legal „pressure points‟ 188 10.5 Guidance for decision-makers 191 10.6 Future research 191 Appendices 194 Appendix 1 Interviewees 194 Appendix 2 Cardiff roundtable participants 198 Appendix 3 London roundtable participants 199 Appendix 4 Questionnaire 200 Appendix 5 General survey 203 Appendix 6 Workplace survey 206 Appendix 7 Workplace survey: results 217 Appendix 8 Summary of selected legal cases 222 References 234 Useful websites and cases in domestic courts and tribunals 251 Acknowledgments This report was written by Alice Donald. It was researched by Alice Donald, Karen Bennett and Professor Philip Leach. We would like to thank all those who gave interviews or attended roundtable discussions and were so generous with their time and insights. Our thanks also go to Aruna Dudhia for administrative support and Federico Burlon, Hannah Cowking and Tarik Elhadidi for research assistance. Special thanks are given to our advisers: Malcolm Evans OBE (Professor of Public International Law, University of Bristol); Conor Gearty (Professor of Law, London School of Economics); Samantha Knights (Barrister, Matrix Chambers); Voirrey Manson (Senior Equality Manager, NHS Wales Centre for Equality and Human Rights); and Mohammad Nafissi (Associate, Human Rights and Social Justice Research Institute, London Metropolitan University). We would also like to thank Dr Rebecca Catto (Lancaster University) and Professor Maleiha Malik (King's College London) for providing helpful comments on a draft of this report. Thanks are due to Matrix Chambers and the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) in Cardiff for hosting the two roundtable discussions. We are especially grateful to David Perfect at the EHRC: his knowledge of and interest in the themes of this research, combined with his patient and enthusiastic support, have made the project a pleasure to work on. Our thanks also go to Jonathan Evans, Jayne Hardwick and Karen Jochelson at the EHRC, as well as Paola Uccellari who advised the project in its early stages. i Abbreviations Acas Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service BHA British Humanist Association CIPD Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development ECHR European Convention on Human Rights ECtHR European Court of Human Rights EDF Equality and Diversity Forum EHRC Equality and Human Rights Commission EIA Equality Impact Assessment EVAW End Violence Against Women coalition GMC General Medical Council HRA Human Rights Act 1998 JCHR Joint Committee on Human Rights LGBT Lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender RBCG Religion or Belief Consultative Group RE Religious education SACRE Standing Advisory Councils for Religious Education SSFA School Standards and Framework Act 1998 ii EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Executive summary Aims of the research In January 2011, the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) commissioned the Human Rights and Social Justice Research Institute at London Metropolitan University to conduct research on „understanding equality and human rights in relation to religion or belief‟ in England and Wales.
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