Race Relations Act 1968
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Citation | 1968 c. 71 |
| Year | 1968 |
Race RelationsAct 1968
1968 CHAPTER 71
An Act to make fresh provision with respect to discrimination on racial grounds, and to make provision with respect to relations between people of different racial origins.
[25th October 1968]
Be it enacted by the Queen's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:—
Part I
Discrimination
General
1 Meaning of ‘discriminate’.
(1) For the purposes of this Act a person discriminates against another if on the ground of colour, race or ethnic or national origins he treats that other, in any situation to which section 2, 3, 4 or 5 below applies, less favourably than he treats or would treat other persons, and in this Act references to discrimination are references to discrimination on any of those grounds.
(2) It is hereby declared that for those purposes segregating a person from other persons on any of those grounds is treating him less favourably than they are treated.
Unlawful discrimination
2 Provision of goods, facilities and services.
(1) It shall be unlawful for any person concerned with the provision to the public or a section of the public (whether on payment or otherwise) of any goods, facilities or services to discriminate against any person seeking to obtain or use those goods, facilities or services by refusing or deliberately omitting to provide him with any of them or to provide him with goods, services or facilities of the like quality, in the like manner and on the like terms in and on which the former normally makes them available to other members of the public.
(2) The following are examples of the facilities and services mentioned in subsection (1) above, that is to say—
access to and use of any place which members of the public are permitted to enter;
accommodation in a hotel, boarding house or other similar establishment;
facilities by way of banking or insurance or for grants, loans, credit or finance;
facilities for education, instruction or training;
facilities for entertainment, recreation or refreshment;
facilities for transport or travel;
the services of any business, profession or trade or local or other public authority.
3 Employment.
(1) It shall be unlawful for an employer or any person concerned with the employment of others to discriminate against any other person—
(a ) if that other person is seeking employment, by refusing or deliberately omitting to employ him on work of any description which is available and for which he is qualified;
(b ) if that other person is employed or seeking employment on work of any description, by refusing or deliberately omitting to afford or offer him the like terms of employment, the like conditions of work and the like opportunities for training and promotion as the employer makes available for persons of the like qualifications employed in like circumstances on work of that description; or
(c ) if that other person is employed on work of any description, by dismissing him in circumstances in which other persons employed on work of that description by the employer are not, or would not be, dismissed.
(2) The provisions of this section shall not affect the provisions of any enactment relating to the employment or qualification for employment of persons or of any instrument so relating made under any enactment, or any condition or requirement so relating imposed by virtue of any enactment, or render unlawful anything done in pursuance of any such provision, condition or requirement.
4 Trade unions, and employers' and trade organisations.
(1) It shall be unlawful for an organisation to which this section applies or any person concerned with the affairs of such an organisation—
(a ) to discriminate against a person who is not a member of the organisation by refusing or deliberately omitting to admit him to membership of the organisation on the like terms as other persons applying for membership;
(b ) to discriminate against a member of the organisation by refusing or deliberately omitting to accord him the same benefits as are accorded to other members thereof, or to take the like action on his behalf as is taken on behalf of other members, or by expelling him from the organisation.
(2) This section applies to organisations of employers or workers or other organisations concerned with the carrying on of trades, businesses, professions or occupations.
5 Housing accommodation, and business and other premises.
5. It shall be unlawful for any person having power to dispose, or being otherwise concerned with the disposal, of housing accommodation, business premises or other land to discriminate—
6 Advertisements and notices.
(1) It shall be unlawful for any person to publish or display, or to cause to be published or displayed, any advertisement or notice which indicates, or which could reasonably be understood as indicating, an intention to do an act of discrimination, whether or not it would be unlawful by virtue of any other provision of this Act.
(2) Subsection (1) above shall not render unlawful the publication or display, or causing the publication or display, of an advertisement or notice which indicates that Commonwealth citizens or any class of such citizens are required for employment outside Great Britain or that persons other than such citizens are required for employment in Great Britain.
Acts which are not unlawful
7 Exception in the case of residential accommodation.
(1) It shall not be unlawful by virtue of section 2 or 5 of this Act to discriminate against any person with respect to the provision or disposal of any residential accommodation in any premises if at the time of the disposal—
(a ) the premises are treated for the purposes of this subsection as small premises; and
(b ) the person having power to provide or dispose of the accommodation (in this subsection and subsection (2) below referred to as ‘the landlord’) resides and intends to continue to reside on the premises; and
(c ) there is on the premises, in addition to the accommodation occupied by the landlord, relevant accommodation shared by him with other persons residing on the premises who are not members of his household.
(2) Premises shall be treated for the purposes of subsection (1) above as small premises if—
(a ) in the case of premises comprising residential accommodation for one or more households (under separate letting or similar agreements) in addition to the accommodation occupied by the landlord, there is not normally residential accommodation for more than two such households and only the landlord and any member of his household reside in the accommodation occupied by him;
(b ) in the case of premises not falling within paragraph (a ) above, there is not normally residential accommodation on the premises for more than six persons in addition to the landlord and any members of his household.
(3) During the two years beginning with the commencement of this Act, subsection (2)(b ) above shall have effect as if for the reference to six persons there were substituted a reference to twelve persons.
(4) In the foregoing provisions of this section any reference to a person having power to provide or dispose of any accommodation or to the landlord shall be construed as including a reference to any member of his family; and for the purposes of this subsection a person is a member of another's family if that person is—
(a ) the other's wife or husband; or
(b ) a son or daughter or a son-in-law or daughter-in-law of the other, or of the other's wife or husband; or
(c ) the father or mother of the other, or of the other's wife or husband.
In paragraph (b ) above any reference to a person's son or daughter includes a reference to any step-son or step-daughter, any illegitimate son or daughter, and any adopted son or daughter, of that person, and ‘son-in-law’ and ‘daughter-in-law’ shall be construed accordingly.
(5) In the foregoing provisions of this section ‘residential accommodation’ includes accommodation in a hotel, boarding house or other similar establishment and ‘relevant accommodation’ means any accommodation other than storage accommodation and means of access.
(6) It shall not be unlawful by virtue of section 2 above to discriminate against any person in respect of the provision of sleeping cabins for passengers on a ship if compliance with that section in that respect would result in persons of different colour, race or ethnic or national origins being compelled to share any such cabin.
(7) It shall not be unlawful by virtue of section 5 above for any person to discriminate against another with respect to the disposal by the former of his...
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