McKay v Northern Ireland Public Service Alliance
| Jurisdiction | Northern Ireland |
| Judgment Date | 01 January 1994 |
| Date | 01 January 1994 |
| Court | Court of Appeal (Northern Ireland) |
- Ambiguous or obscure legislation - Reference to proceedings in Parliament as an aid to construction - Hansard - Statements by Minister - Employment - Discrimination - Political opinion - Legislation providing that discrimination by employer on grounds of religious belief or political opinion unlawful - Tribunal relying on Minister's statements to conclude that political opinion had to be linked with religious belief to found complaint - Minister stating expressly that discrimination due to political opinion an independent ground - Whether term "political opinion" ambiguous or obscure - Whether reference to parliamentary materials permissible - Fair Employment (Northern Ireland) Act, 1976, s. 16.
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M. complained to the Fair Employment Tribunal that he had been unlawfully discriminated against by the Northern Ireland Public Service Alliance (the NIPSA) contrary to the Fair Employment Act, 1976. He alleged that he had been denied an appointment because of his left wing political opinions. The Fair Employment Tribunal declined jurisdiction on the basis that the phrase 'discrimination on the ground of religious belief or political opinion' in the definition of 'discrimination' in s. 16 of the 1976 Act, rendered unlawful discrimination on the ground of political opinions which displayed some connection or correlation between religion and politics in Northern Ireland, and not on the ground of any political opinions. In reaching its conclusion the tribunal had concluded that if a literal meaning was given to the words 'political opinion' in the 1976 Act it might lead to an absurd result and that since the words 'political opinion' were obscure, it was entitled to refer to parliamentary material as an aid to construction in order to give effect to the true intention of the legislature. M. appealed. Held - (1) Reference to parliamentary materials was permitted as an aid to construction where: (a) legislation was ambiguous or obscure, or led to an absurdity; (b) the material relied on consisted of one or more statements by a minister or other promoter of the Bill; and (c) the statements relied on were clear. In the instant case the words of the minister relied on by the tribunal did not make it clear that the words 'political opinion' were to be connected with 'religious belief'. Indeed the minister had ultimately stated in express terms that the Bill also dealt with political discrimination...
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Gareth Lee v Colin McArthur, Karen McArthur and Ashers Baking Company Limited
...of political opinion. The judge adopted the analysis contained in the authorities (see McKay v Northern Ireland Public Service Alliance [1994] NI 103) that political opinion means opinion relating to the policy of government and matters touching upon government. In light of the ongoing poli......
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Lee (Gareth) v Ashers Baking Co Ltd and Colin McArthur and Karen McArthur
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Lee v Ashers Baking Company Ltd and Others
...and had rejected it for a third time only the week before. Political opinion is not defined in the legislation, but in McKay v Northern Ireland Public Service Alliance [1994] NI 103, it was defined as “an opinion relating to the policy of government and matters touching the government of t......