Article 14 of the European Convention of Human Rights

Article 14 of the European convention on human rights is a concern about the prohibition of discrimination. The act states 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.” The key points about this articles is that it is against discrimination, and makes sure that every individual can enjoy human rights equally.[1] The article covers both direct and indirect discrimination, direct discrimination is when one is deprived of their rights due to any reason gender, religion or background. While indirect discrimination takes place where a practice has a negative impact on people. For example, if a company has a policy that all its workers must pass a certain test which would be biased against women this would be considered as indirect discrimination. Article 14 covers the aspect of economic discrimation on the basis of economic factors like job availability, wages and the availability of goods and services.

Expanding the scope of discrimination in article 14 would provide a clear and more comprehensive protection against discrimination that are based on different factors like income, wealth, housing and working status. Discrimination takes place when a person feels that they are being treated less favourabley than others in the same situation where everyone is. Another factor to be considered by article 14 is to consider issues that are related to status, disability and family status. This will give equal access for the distribution of resources like learning and employment opportunities. Developing a clear and more precis guidelines justifying discrimination would be helpful in preventing discrimination taking place in exceptional circumstances. Though there are human rights but it does not protect from discrimination and for a more general protection we have the equality act of 2010.[2] For example, let us consider the case of a young man named Alex, he applies for a scholar ship in a European country to study law. Alex has excellent grades and personal statement, but is denied admission. Later Alex learns that the same scholarship was awarded to a student who had less grades but came from a wealthy family. Alex believes that he was discriminated based on his social origin. In this case he can use Article 14 of the European convention on human rights. Article 14 does not mention economic discrimination which means that is can be challenging for economic disparities on the basis of income, wealth or access to resources.[3]

The equality act of 2010

The equality act of 2010 is a law in UK against anti-discrimination legislation that was introduced in the public sector equality duty of section 149. The equality act of 2010 maintains that public bodies which includes local authorities, schools and hospitals for taking steps to eradicate discrimination and taking positive actions to promote equality. Public departments have a duty for eliminating discrimination, and harassment. The act also covers the social and economic status that impact the socio economic standing like race, gender and disability of a person. The act encourages public departments in removing obstacles for promoting equality of opportunity and make it easier for them to participate fully in society, this is going to impact their social and economic well-being. Section 149 has some limitations like it is applicable only to public bodies and does not concern the private companies.[4] For example, in a European city a public company announces a new policy to be implement that all the workers should be vaccinated against a specific disease. The company claims that this policy is important for protecting the health and safety of its employees, many workers objected to the vaccination which was due to personal beliefs of medical reasons. This case shows social discrimination and violation of article 14 with the right to freedom of thought, and religion.  In the economic point of view section 149 addresses that public bodies must follow specific and measurable equality objectives that follow the plan outlined in section 149 so that it can remove barriers and create equal opportunities for those individuals from disadvantaged background. The equality act of 2010 does not offer protection against some forms of discrimination like the ones that are based on caste of the individual, socioeconomic status, or immigration status. If these areas are covered it would make sure for the greater equality for all the people. For example, an immigrant from Cyprus applies of an engineering position at a company in the United Kingdom. He has all the necessary qualifications and experience as required for the job, but during the interview the CEO asks him about his back ground and has been rejected for the job. Under the equality act of 2010 the man applying for the job would have no legal protection against this form of discrimination because the act and the man would be left with limited options for challenging the discriminatory action he faced. He could have filed a legal action against the company if the equality act 2010 was expanded for including caste discrimination.[5]

There are no major law reforms in the United Kingdom that addresses discrimination that is based on social and economic status. However, the equality Act 2010 protects people from discrimination that is based on certain law reforms.

Legal reforms

The equality act 2010 expands anti-discrimination laws that ensures social and economic status are protected. This reform addresses individuals who are discriminate due to their income, wealth, access to resources or legal occupation.

Change in policies

Raising public awareness about the social and economic consequences of discrimination by setting up educational campaigns, and community outreach programs. By encouraging business to take up corporate social responsibility and promote fair treatment of workers.[6]

References

Arnardóttir, Oddný Mjöll. Equality and non-discrimination under the European Convention on Human Rights. Vol. 74. Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 2003.

Ferran, Eilis. “Company Law Reform in the UK.” Sing. J. Int’l & Comp. L. 5 (2001): 516.

Fredman, Sandra. “Emerging from the shadows: Substantive equality and article 14 of the European convention on human rights.” Human Rights Law Review 16, no. 2 (2016): 273-301.

Gerards, Janneke. “The discrimination grounds of article 14 of the European convention on Human Rights.” Human Rights Law Review 13, no. 1 (2013): 99-124.

Hepple, Bob. “The new single equality act in Britain.” The Equal Rights Review 5, no. 1 (2010): 11-24.

Korff, Douwe. “The right to life: A guide to the implementation of Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights.” Council of Europe-Human Rights Handbook 8 (2006).

[1] Gerards, Janneke. “The discrimination grounds of article 14 of the European convention on Human Rights.” Human Rights Law Review 13, no. 1 (2013): 99-124.

[2] Fredman, Sandra. “Emerging from the shadows: Substantive equality and article 14 of the European convention on human rights.” Human Rights Law Review 16, no. 2 (2016): 273-301.

[3] Hepple, Bob. “The new single equality act in Britain.” The Equal Rights Review 5, no. 1 (2010): 11-24.

[4] Arnardóttir, Oddný Mjöll. Equality and non-discrimination under the European Convention on Human Rights. Vol. 74. Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 2003.

[5] Korff, Douwe. “The right to life: A guide to the implementation of Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights.” Council of Europe-Human Rights Handbook 8 (2006).

[6] Ferran, Eilis. “Company Law Reform in the UK.” Sing. J. Int’l & Comp. L. 5 (2001): 516.