(Minister for
Women and Equalities): No one should suffer
prejudice or discrimination on any grounds, including any
perception of their caste. In March last year, the Government
launched a consultation on “Caste in Great Britain and
Equality Law” to obtain the views of the public on how
best to ensure that appropriate and proportionate legal
protection exists for victims of caste discrimination. The
consultation ran in total for six months, closing in September
2017.
I am publishing the Government’s response to that consultation
today, together with an independent analysis of the consultation
that provides an assessment of all the responses. This report
should be read in conjunction with the Government’s response.
The consultation considered different ways of protecting people
from caste discrimination. The first option was to implement a
duty, which was introduced by Parliament in 2013, to make caste
an aspect of race discrimination under the Equality Act 2010. The
second was to rely on emerging case law which, in the view of
Government, shows that a statutory remedy against caste
discrimination is available through existing provisions in the
Equality Act, and to invite Parliament to repeal the duty on that
basis.
The consultation received over 16,000 responses, showing the
importance of this issue for many people in particular
communities. About 53% of respondents wanted to rely on the
existing statutory remedy and repeal the duty, 22% rejected both
options (mainly because they wished the Government to proscribe
the concept of caste in British law altogether) and about 18% of
respondents wanted the duty to be implemented. The arguments put
forward for these different views are set out in the Government’s
response and in more detail in the analysis.
The Government’s primary concern is to ensure that legal
protection against caste discrimination is sufficient,
appropriate and proportionate. After careful consideration of all
the points raised in the consultation, we have decided to invite
Parliament to repeal the duty because it is now sufficiently
clear that the Equality Act provides this protection. The
judgment of the Employment Appeal Tribunal in Tirkey v
Chandhok shows that someone claiming caste
discrimination may rely on the existing statutory remedy where
they can show that their “caste” is related to their ethnic
origin, which is itself an aspect of race discrimination in the
Equality Act.
The judgment is binding on all who bring a claim in an employment
tribunal, has status equivalent to a High Court decision, and is
based on the application of case law decided at a higher level.
The Government considers, having also taken into account the
consultation responses, that
the Tirkey judgment serves as a welcome
clarification of the existing protection under the Equality Act -
helping to deter those inclined to treat others unfairly or
unequally because of conceptions of caste. We believe that the
decision makes the introduction of additional statutory
protection in the Equality Act unnecessary.
In light of changed circumstances since 2013, we intend to
legislate to repeal the duty for a specific reference to caste as
an aspect of race discrimination in the Equality Act once a
suitable legislative vehicle becomes available .
We recognise that this is an area of domestic law which may
develop further, and have carefully considered the full terms of
the Tirkey judgment. We will monitor
emerging case law in the years ahead.
To make clear that caste discrimination is unacceptable we will,
if appropriate, support a case with a view to ensuring that the
higher courts reinforce the position set out in Tirkey
v Chandhok.
In order to ensure that people know their rights and what sort of
conduct could be unlawful under the Equality Act, we also intend
to produce short guidance before the repeal legislation is
introduced. We want this to be of particular use to any
individual who feels they may have suffered discrimination on
grounds of caste. It should also help employers, service
providers and public authorities who are outside those groups
most concerned with caste and who may have little awareness of
caste divisions.
