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UK Equality Human Rights Commission backs Christians in Euro Court.

8:24am Wednesday, 13th July 2011

John Sandeman

Judges have been too hard on Christians in the UK according to the government body that advises on equality law.

The commission plans to argue for “reasonable accommodation” for religous belief, similar to the rights of disabled people in four cases which have been appealed the European Court of Human Rights all involving religious discrimination in the workplace.

“It is a considerable shift in emphasis at the commission, which has in the past appeared to be hostile to religious liberty cases brought by Christians” reports the Christian Institute..

“In one damaging case a lawyer for the commission suggested that Christian foster carers are a risk because they may ‘infect’ children.

“In another instance, the commission funded a case against Christian B&B owners who restricted double rooms to married couples. When the commission won, its lawyers demanded a harsher penalty against the Christians”

The EHRC says “The Commission is concerned that rulings already made by UK and European courts have created a body of confusing and contradictory case law. For example, some Christians wanting to display religious symbols in the workplace have lost their legal claim so are not allowed to wear a cross, while others have been allowed to after reaching a compromise with their employer.

As a result, it is difficult for employers or service providers to know what they should be doing to protect people from religion or belief based discrimination.”

One of the cases that the commission is that of Lillian Ladele, who worked at a local council in London as a Marriage registrar who was disciplined because she wishe to refer gay couples to her colleagues. Two others involve people banned from wearing crosses at work, and a relationship counsellor who did not want to give advice to gays.

“Our intervention in these cases would encourage judges to interpret the law more broadly and more clearly to the benefit of people who are religious and those who are not”, said John Wadham, Group Dircor legal at the commission.

'”The idea of making reasonable adjustments to accommodate a person’s needs has served disability discrimination law well for decades. It seems reasonable that a similar concept could be adopted to allow someone to manifest their religious beliefs.”

The Christian Institute’s Mike Judge said: “We welcome this announcement from the commission. It will help Christians have more confidence that their genuine concerns are being listened to.

“Obviously, we await the precise details of the legal intervention by the commission, but we are encouraged by the tone of their announcement. It is a step in the right direction.