header-logo header-logo

Home Login E-newsletter About us

Clash of rights & equalities

© Copyright LexisNexis 2026. All Rights Reserved.
22 October 2021 / Nicholas Dobson
Issue: 7953 / Categories: Features , Public , Human rights , Equality
printer mail-detail
61712
Nicholas Dobson considers whether equality law permits religious organisations to uphold their views on sexual ethics in the way they work
  • An independent evangelical Christian fostering agency, which recruits and supports carers for children in local authority care and which required its carers to ‘abstain from all sexual sins including… homosexual behaviour’, unlawfully discriminated against gay men and lesbians under both the Equality Act 2010 and the Human Rights Act 1998.

Not all rights and protected characteristics sit comfortably together. Sometimes there can be painful collisions. This was particularly apparent on 24 September 2021 when the Court of Appeal handed down its judgment in R (Cornerstone (North East) Adoption and Fostering Services Ltd v Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills (OFSTED) [2021] EWCA Civ 1390, [2021] All ER (D) 14 (Oct). For then, Peter Jackson LJ (with whom his colleagues Asplin and Nicola Davies LJJ agreed) found (for reasons similar but not identical to those of Knowles J below) that (in essence) Cornerstone, a Christian

If you are not a subscriber, subscribe now to read this content
If you are already a subscriber sign in
...or Register for two weeks' free access to subscriber content

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Read All
Sponsored by
Freeths—Ruth Clare

Freeths—Ruth Clare

National real estate team bolstered by partner hire in Manchester

Farrer & Co—Claire Gordon

Farrer & Co—Claire Gordon

Partner appointed head of family team

mfg Solicitors—Neil Harrison

mfg Solicitors—Neil Harrison

Firm strengthens agriculture and rural affairs team with partner return

NEWS
Read All
Conveyancers celebrate U-turn over mortgage handbook fee
Conveyancing lawyers have enjoyed a rapid win after campaigning against UK Finance’s decision to charge for access to the Mortgage Lenders’ Handbook
Are you suited to a career in prosecution?
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has launched a recruitment drive for talented early career and more senior barristers and solicitors
LSB marks Mazur homework
Regulators differed in the clarity and consistency of their post-Mazur advice and guidance, according to an interim report by the Legal Services Board (LSB)
NLJ this week: Stuck in the past?
The Solicitors Act 1974 may still underpin legal regulation, but its age is increasingly showing. Writing in NLJ this week, Victoria Morrison-Hughes of the Association of Costs Lawyers argues that the Act is ‘out of step with modern consumer law’ and actively deters fairness
NLJ this week: No automatic bar on ‘user damages’
A Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) ruling has reopened debate on the availability of ‘user damages’ in competition claims. Writing in NLJ this week, Edward Nyman of Hausfeld explains how the CAT allowed Dr Liza Lovdahl Gormsen’s alternative damages case against Meta to proceed, rejecting arguments that such damages are barred in competition law
Copyright © 2026 LexisNexis
back-to-top-scroll