Call for submissions on section 37 of Employment Equality Act 1998 (Religious Ethos)

From www.equality.ie -

"Call for Submissions: 

Proposed amendment to section 37 of the Employment Equality Acts 1998 – 2011 

The Equality Authority is inviting submissions from interested parties as part of a consultation process in relation to a proposed amendment to s37 of the Employment Equality Acts 1998 – 2011. Submissions are welcome in electronic format to submissions@equality.ie  and should be no more than 2,000 words in length. The deadline is 5.00pm on Friday November 1st 2013. 

Background 

You may also be aware that The Programme for Government stated: “People of non-faith or minority religious backgrounds and publicly identified LGBT people should not be deterred from training or taking up employment as teachers in the State”. 

The s37 provision may also have an impact in institutions that have a religious ethos such as those in the health sector. 

The Minister for Justice and Equality has decided to merge the Equality Authority with the Irish Human Rights Commission. His letter of appointment to the members of the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission (designate) (the “Commission designate”) sets out that he wanted to address the amendment of s37 of the Employment Equality Acts 1998 – 2011 with the Commission members as a priority matter.

 The Commission designate has agreed to review the issue and the Executive of the Equality Authority are leading this project. The Irish Human Rights Commission (IHRC) has also agreed to assist in this project.  For further information please contact Ms. Nuala Cuddy on 0505-24126 or 1890 245 545."

For some of the background on the religious ethos exception, see the following:

• Gerry Whyte, 'Protecting Religious Ethos in Employment Law: A Clash of Cultures' (2005) 12 Dublin University Law Journal 169   
• Mark Coen, 'Religious Ethos and Employment Equality: a Comparative Irish Perspective' (2008) 28(3) Legal Studies 452  
• Mark Coen 'Living the Ethos?' (2007) 101(6) Gazette of Law Society of Ireland 33    
• Mark Coen, 'Churches must not be immune from sections of equality law',  Irish Times, 4 August 2007 

The well-known Eileen Flynn case is available here - Flynn v. Power [1985] IEHC 1; [1985] IR 648.

 

ICCL Consultation on the Veil in Irish Schools

The Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL) is organising a consultation on its Policy Paper on the Veil in Irish Schools: An Equality and Human Rights Analysis .

The event is scheduled to take place from 2.15pm-4.30pm on Monday, 23 May 2011 in the Equality Authority, 2 Clonmel Street, Dublin 2 and is aimed at educational managers, educationalists, parliamentarians, public policy makers, legal practitioners, academics and members of civil society.

Corinna Ferguson [see picture above], Legal Officer with UK human rights group Liberty, will discuss her organisation’s recent success in representing 14-year-old Sarika Singh who successfully argued that her school breached race relations and equality laws by excluding her for wearing the kara which is a Sikh bracelet and a central tenet of the Sikh religion.

Tanya Ward, Deputy Director with the ICCL, will outline the ICCL’s recommendations in this area and seek feedback from interested individuals and parties (see paper attached). Ward will also summarise any feedback received to date.

If you are interested in attending this event, please rsvp by 5pm, Friday, 20 May 2011 to Joanne Garvey, Administrator, ICCL, 9-13 Blackhall Place, Dublin 7, Email: joanne.garvey@iccl.ie ; Tel: (01) 799 4504

About Corinna Ferguson

Corinna Ferguson is a barrister and has been a legal officer at Liberty since August 2008. She is currently working on cases concerning religious freedom in the workplace, the duty on the state to investigate allegations of inhuman and degrading treatment in an immigration detention centre and police photography of peaceful protesters. Ferguson is a regular contributor to Liberty’s Legal Clinic which is hosted by the Guardian Newspaper.

About the ICCL’s Paper

The ICCL has prepared a paper for consultation in response to the ongoing debate concerning the wearing of the hijab (head veil) in Irish schools and the Minister for Education and Science’s recommendations on the wearing of school uniforms. The ICCL’s paper considers the likely impact of the recommendations and examines whether exclusions of pupils wearing hijabs or niqabs (full covering) from schools complies with the State’s constitutional, legal and international human rights obligations. The paper also makes recommendations aimed at the Department of Education and Science, patrons of schools and school management and others interested parties in the education sector.