Research report 97: Review of equality and human rights law relating to religion or belief

Earlier this year we published the results of our largest ever consultation, in which we asked people how religion or belief affected their experiences at work or when using services. Our report revealed a wide range of experiences. In some workplaces, employees and employers could openly discuss the impact of religion or belief on employees or customers. In other workplaces, people said their religion or belief was mocked. There were also very different views about the legal framework protecting the right to hold and express a religion or belief. Some people thought that equality law provided a robust single framework to deal with discrimination and ensure equality for everyone; others had mixed views, and some viewed the law negatively, with some Christian respondents saying that the legal framework had undermined the status of Christianity in Britain.

We commissioned Oxford Brookes University to build on the findings of our consultation by reviewing the legal framework in Great Britain, the way courts have developed case law, and how experts have analysed this. The review looks at such key issues as how religion and belief are defined in the law, the legal protection for religion or belief, the balancing of competing rights, and the idea of a duty of reasonable accommodation, which is part of the law in Canada and America. The review takes a neutral approach and considers different views on these issues.

The review finds that the legislation and case law protects people with a religion or a belief and those who lack a religion or belief, but that several areas need more thought. These include the definition of belief and the position of the religious employer and religious service provider, and areas where the law is unclear such as the relationship between individual and group rights.

The Commission will now begin work on its concluding report setting out its own views on these issues. The Commission’s role is to promote and enforce the laws that protect everyone’s right to be treated with fairness, dignity and respect. So we will take as our starting point the premise that services provided to the public should be available to everyone equally without discrimination, and that enabling employees to express their religion or belief should not cause a detriment to other employees or service users. The Oxford Brookes report provides a very useful starting point.