Penn State International Law Review Volume 2 Article 3 Number 1 Dickinson International Law Annual 1983 British Anti-Discrimination Law: An Introduction Christopher McCrudden Follow this and additional works at: http://elibrary.law.psu.edu/psilr Part of the Civil Rights and Discrimination Commons, Comparative and Foreign Law Commons, and the International Law Commons Recommended Citation McCrudden, Christopher (1983) "British Anti-Discrimination Law: An Introduction," Penn State International Law Review: Vol. 2: No. 1, Article 3. Available at: http://elibrary.law.psu.edu/psilr/vol2/iss1/3 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by Penn State Law eLibrary. It has been accepted for inclusion in Penn State International Law Review by an authorized administrator of Penn State Law eLibrary. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. BRITISH ANTI-DISCRIMINATION LAW: AN INTRODUCTION ** Christopher McCrudden I. INTRODUCTION The United Kingdom is a signatory of a number of inter- national treaties protecting various aspects of human rights, including freedom from discrimination. Yet, there is no legislation in this country protecting a comprehen- sive list of human rights in the manner of the United States Bill of Rights, although there have been a number of unsuccessful attempts to enact such legislation since 1969. Moreover, prior to the race relations legislation there was no general rule, policy or principle in common law directly relevant to combating racial discrimination or incitement to racial hatred. In specific situations, however, as a by-product of the regulation of other areas, the common law and various statutes (e.g. the Public Order Act 1936)1 did--and do-- make unlawful certain conduct and the use of speech which might incite racial hatred.