The Way Forward — Positive Discrimination or Positive Action?

Abstract

The focus of this article is an evaluation of the Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000, which imposes duties on public authorities, and the Sex Discrimination (Election Candidates) Act 2002, which gives opportunities to political parties over the selection of candidates. Both of these Acts help to move anti-discrimination law in the United Kingdom away from a concentration on remedies for inconsistent treatment towards the acceptance of the need for positive measures aimed at both protecting and also advancing the position of an under-represented group. The article suggests that the positive measures these Acts exemplify may lead to conflict with the background principle that individuals should be treated with equal concern and respect. The article suggests that this principle underlies the limits to positive action in employment schemes under European Union law (the article includes a consideration of whether such limits apply to election candidacy); it goes on to consider the principle in respect of the limits to positive action authorised by these two Acts that may follow from the Human Rights Act 1998. The article concludes by considering whether the new legislation provides acceptable models for the future.