Race Relations Act 19681

Published date01 March 1969
DOIhttp://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2230.1969.tb02294.x
Date01 March 1969
AuthorB. A. Hepple
STATUTES
RACE RELATIONS ACT
1968
LIKE
other social legislation, the ultimate effectiveness of this
measure is likely to depend not only on the acceptability of the
standards
it
enacts, but also on the strength of its procedures for
enforcement.
The standards are reasonably clear. Discrimination on grounds
of colour, race, ethnic
or
national origins is made unlawful in all
the major areas of conduct in which
it
is a social problem: in the
provision of goods, facilities and servicesY2 in empl~yment,~ by
trade unions, employers' and professional organisation~,~ in housing
and business premises,' in advertisements and notices.6 This is
subject to some important and controversial exceptions, but since
most of these are the result of political decisions as to where to
draw the line (reflecting the strength of particular lobbies, such
as the shipping industry
')
they will not be pursued here." Of
immediate concern to lawyers is the evidence which the Act pro-
vides that the development of legal technique has not kept abreast
with the readiness of Parliament to enact new standards
of
behaviour. In an age in which freedom from racial discrimination
has become a legal right, legal draftsmen have not been prepared
to venture beyond techniques appropriate to the earlier age of
freedom of contract; and this, despite the many new vistas sug-
gested in the Street Report on Anti-Discrimination Legi~lation.~
In a short note
it
is not possible to develop this point beyond
a
few illustrations.
First, there is the difficulty experienced in translating socio-
logical ideas into flexible and meaningful legal concepts. Take, for
example, the word
''
discriminate." In the original Billylo the
1
c.
71
(which does not extend
to
Northern Ireland).
The
Act
(s.
28 (8))
repeals
most
of
the Race Relations Act
1965
(noted in
(1966) 29
M.L.R.
306).
Ss.
5
(unreasonable restrictions
on
the disposal of certain tenancies),
6
(incitement
to
racial hatred)
and
7
(public order)
of
the
1965
Act remain in force. It is to
be noted that incitement
to
racial hatred by
means
of
the public performance
of
a
play has been made
unlawful
by the
Theatres
Act
1968
(c.
54),
s.
5.
=
s.
2.
8.
3,
subject to the exceptions
in
s.
8.
4
6.
4.
s.
5,
subject to
the
exceptions in
8.
7.
6.
6
(l),
subject to the exceptions in
s.
6
(2).
'
See
the exceptions
in
ss.
7
(6),
8
(7)-(10),
and
3
(2)
which, in effect,
allow
the shipping industry
to
continue all the practices
I
described in
Race,
Jobs
and the
Law
in
Britain
(London,
1968),
pp.
42-45, 65-66, 76.
Some
of
these are discussed by
L.
Kushnick,
"The
Race
Bill Battle,"
New
Society,
June
27, 1968,
p.
943.
(London
1967)
noted in
(1968) 31
M.L.R.
310.
lo
Bill
128
(April
8,
1968).
181

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