ABSTRACT
Human Rights Act 1998 Article 14 of the European Convention on Human Rights requires that ‘the enjoyment of the rights and freedoms set forth in this Convention shall be secured without discrimination on any ground such as sex, race, colour, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, association with a national minority, property, birth or other status’. It does not provide a free-standing prohibition on discrimination but applies only in relation to the enjoyment of the rights contained in the other relevant articles. However, Section 6 of the Act makes it unlawful for a public authority to act in a way which is incompatible with a Convention right unless it is required to do so by primary legislation or inevitably incompatible secondary legislation.
