header-logo header-logo

Home Login E-newsletter About us

Clash of rights & equalities

© Copyright LexisNexis 2025. 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
Cadwalader—Andro Atlaga

Cadwalader—Andro Atlaga

Firm strengthens leveraged finance team with London partner hire

Mourant—Stephen Alexander

Mourant—Stephen Alexander

Jersey litigation lead appointed to global STEP Council

mfg Solicitors—nine trainees

mfg Solicitors—nine trainees

Firm invests in future talent with new training cohort

NEWS
Read All
NLJ this week: Traders’ convictions quashed in Libor shock
The Supreme Court issued a landmark judgment in July that overturned the convictions of Tom Hayes and Carlo Palombo, once poster boys of the Libor and Euribor scandal. In NLJ this week, Neil Swift of Peters & Peters considers what the ruling means for financial law enforcement
NLJ this week: Trans pool player loses discrimination fight
Charles Pigott of Mills & Reeve reports on Haynes v Thomson, the first judicial application of the Supreme Court’s For Women Scotland ruling in a discrimination claim, in this week's NLJ
NLJ this week: Small firms call for tech clarity as AI looms
Small law firms want to embrace technology but feel lost in a maze of jargon, costs and compliance fears, writes Aisling O’Connell of the Solicitors Regulation Authority in this week's NLJ
NLJ this week: Pro bono power without the red tape
Bea Rossetto of the National Pro Bono Centre makes the case for ‘General Practice Pro Bono’—using core legal skills to deliver life-changing support, without the need for niche expertise—in this week's NLJ
NLJ this week: Fraud claims climb as courts brace for AI threats
Charlie Mercer and Astrid Gillam of Stewarts crunch the numbers on civil fraud claims in the English courts, in this week's NLJ. New data shows civil fraud claims rising steadily since 2014, with the King’s Bench Division overtaking the Commercial Court as the forum of choice for lower-value disputes
Copyright © 2025 LexisNexis
back-to-top-scroll