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Strands of opportunity

15 February 2007 / Charles Pigott
Issue: 7260 / Categories: Features , Discrimination
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How do public authorities’ new duties of non-discrimination fit the broader drive for equality? Charles Pigott explains

Recent amendments to the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (DDA 1995) and the Sex Discrimination Act 1975 (SDA 1975) create new public sector duties which mirror those introduced in the race relations field in 2001. The new duties under DDA 1995 came into effect on 4 December 2006. Those under SDA 1975 will come into force on 6 April 2007.

Recent months have seen the publication of the Duty to Promote Disability Equality—Statutory Code of Practice and the Gender Equality Duty—Code of Practice for England and Wales and the remaining regulations establishing the precise extent of these duties.

What duties?

The new duties include:
 a general duty to promote equality of opportunity which applies to most public authorities;
 a range of specific duties applying only to named authorities, to reinforce the general duty; and
 an obligation not to discriminate in the performance of public functions, where this is not already covered by existing legislation.
The general duty
The general duty to

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

DWF—19 appointments

DWF—19 appointments

Belfast team bolstered by three senior hires and 16 further appointments

Cadwalader—Andro Atlaga

Cadwalader—Andro Atlaga

Firm strengthens leveraged finance team with London partner hire

Knights—Ella Dodgson & Rebecca Laffan

Knights—Ella Dodgson & Rebecca Laffan

Double hire marks launch of family team in Leeds

NEWS
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
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
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
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
Artificial intelligence may be revolutionising the law, but its misuse could wreck cases and careers, warns Clare Arthurs of Penningtons Manches Cooper in this week's NLJ
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