Legislation
An important amendment to the Employment Equality (Religion or Belief) Regulations 2003 took effect on 30 April.
Section 77 of the Equality Act 2006 amends the Regulations, replacing the definition of 'religion or belief' so that instead of reading 'any religion, religious belief or similar philosophical belief' the definition reads 'any religion, or religious or philosophical belief'.
The important part is the removal of the word 'similar'. This was previously interpreted as requiring that the philosophical belief be similar in nature to a religious belief. The case from which this interpretation emanated was Baggs -v- Fudge, where, on this interpretation, a BNP member’s claim that fascism was a 'similar philosophical belief' was struck out.
The amendment, therefore, re-opens the question of whether political belief can fall within the Equality Regulations.