Wednesday 30 April 2014

Caste & the Equality Act 2010

CASTE DISCRIMINATION, THE EQUALITY ACT 2010, AND THE IMPLICATIONS OF TIRKEY V CHANDOK   

THURSDAY 1 MAY 6PM-8.30PM                                                   

MMU BUSINESS SCHOOL, ROOM G.35 [drinks beforehand in the Business School Atrium]:   

Manchester Law School is delighted to be hosting a panel of high profile discrimination and employment experts to debate caste and the Equality Act 2010.  They will be joined by two experts on caste. The panel will be discussing the implications of Tirkey v Chandok and we hope that you will join us for what should prove to be a lively, informative and interesting panel discussion. Attendees will be entitled to two hours SRA or BSB CPD as appropriate.

Caste has risen to the top of the discrimination agenda for lawyers and non-lawyers alike since the Equality Act 2010 provided for the possibility of adding caste to the definition of race in the Act. In 2013 Parliament inserted a provision in the Enterprise & Regulatory Reform Act requiring the addition of caste to the Equality Act 2010. Caste legislation will be introduced only after extensive public consultation and this is unlikely to happen before October 2015. However, claimants in two employment tribunal cases have argued that caste is already covered by the Equality Act 2010 under the existing definitions of race and religion or belief.

In 2012 in Naveed v Aslam the ET held that on the facts of the case, caste was not covered by ethnic origins, one of the existing subsets of race.  In contrast, in December 2013 in Tirkey v Chandok the ET concluded that in the context of that case, race in the Equality Act 2010 can and should be construed to cover caste.  
 

Our panel of experts includes: 
Chris Milsom, Barrister at Cloisters Chambers, London and Counsel for the claimant in Tirkey.
Nessa Sharkett, Senior Lecturer in Employment Law at Manchester Metropolitan University and part-time Employment Judge of the North West Region.

Professor David Mosse, Professor of Social Anthropology at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London, and Head of the Department of Anthropology and Sociology at SOAS, expert on India, Dalits, Adivasis, caste and religion. 

Dr Annapurna Waughray, Senior Lecturer in International Law, Human Rights Law and EU Law at Manchester Metropolitan University, expert on caste discrimination and the law in India, the UK, and in international human rights law. 

Dr Meena Dhanda, Reader in Philosophy and Cultural Politics at the University of Wolverhampton, expert on caste, identity and caste discrimination in the UK and the diaspora.

Barry Harwood-Gray, employment law specialist Barrister and Head of Employment Law at Kenworthys Chambers, Manchester.  
 

We look forward to seeing you on Thursday 1st May and hope that you will join us for refreshments in the Business School atrium from 6.00pm prior to the panel event in room G.35.  
AGENDA  
6pm                                      Drinks in the Business School Atrium
6.30pm                              Weclome - Professor Ruth Ashford, Dean, MMU Business & Law
6.35pm                              Introduction to the Panel and the event - Barry Harwood Gray
6.40pm                              Caste: A Very Brief Legal Overview – Dr Annapurna Waughray
6.50pm                              Caste in the UK - Professor David Mosse & Dr Meena Dhanda
7.10pm                              Tirkey v Chandok - Chris Milsom
7.20pm                              Questions from the perspective of an ET judge - Nessa Sharkett
7.30pm                              Questions and discussion
8.30pm                              Summing up and close.  

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