1. Institute of Employment Rights NorthWest Conference 2009 The New Equality Bill -The Public Duty Professor Fiona Beveridge Liverpool Law School

2. Introduction The Existing Equality Duties The Proposed Equality Duty Implementation Enforcement

3. The Existing Equality Duties The Race Duty The Disability Duty The Gender Duty General v Specific Code of Practice

4. The Proposed Equality Duty (Cl. 1) Socio-Economic Inequalities: – An authority to which this section applies must, when making decisions of a strategic nature... have due regard to...(the desirability of reducing) the inequalities of outcome which result from socio-economic disadvantage.... Authorities covered

5. Public sector equality duty Cl.145 – A public authority must, in the exercise of its functions, have due regard to the need to – a)Eliminate discrimination, harassment, victimisation and any other conduct that is prohibited by or under this Act; b)Advance equality of opportunity between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic and persons who do not share it

6. c)Foster good relations between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic and persons who do not share it Also applies to non-public authorities who are exercising public functions, who must have due regard to these duties in the exercise of those functions

7. Protected Characteristics (Cl. 4) Age Disability Gender reassignment Marriage and civil partnership Pregnancy and maternity Race Religion or belief Sex Sexual orientation

8. Implementation Requirements in the Bill Codes of Practice Previous Practice

9. Enforcement General Duties – judicial review – Elias – BAPIO – Chavda – Eisai – Watkins-Singh – ‘C’ – Kaur

10. Enforcement (contd) The specific duties – Role of Equality Scheme – Admissibility in Court Proceedings – Role of ECHR

11. Overview and Observations