Discrimination (Jersey) Law 201-

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A decision made 14 January 2013:

Decision Reference: MD-S-2012-0005
Decision Summary Title :	DS Discrimination Law lodged		Date of Decision Summary:	9 January 2013
Decision Summary Author:	Policy Principal		Decision Summary: Public or Exempt?	Public
Type of Report: Oral or Written?	Written		Person Giving Oral Report:	N/A
Written Report Title :	WR Accompanying Report		Date of Written Report:	9 January 2013
Written Report Author:	Policy Principal		Written Report : Public or Exempt?	Public
Subject: Draft Discrimination (Jersey) Law 201-
Decision(s): The Minister decided to lodge for States debate the draft Discrimination (Jersey) Law 201-
Reason(s) for Decision: A decision of the States of Jersey in July 2011 (P.118/2011) transferred the responsibility for preparing discrimination legislation to the Minister for Social Security (the ‘Minister’) and directed the Minister to lodge a draft Discrimination Law with the States. Draft legislation had been developed during 2005 to 2010 by the former Chief Minister, and subsequently by the Minister for Home Affairs. The Minister reviewed the draft legislation (dated April 2010) and has refined and re-drafted the Law with the following primary considerations; • Keeping the law simple and clarifying the definitions • Changes in the UK as a result of the introduction of the Equality Act 2010 • The outcomes of consultation with stakeholders during 2012. The Minister is satisfied that the draft Law provides the necessary framework for protection against discrimination and it includes ‘race’ as the first protected characteristic. Protection against race discrimination is necessary to help Jersey comply with the requirements of - • the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), and • the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD). Attached as an annex to the accompanying report is a note that has been prepared in respect of the draft Discrimination (Jersey) Law 201- by the Law Officers’ Department. It summarises the principal human rights issues arising from the contents of the draft Law and explains why, in the Law Officers’ opinion, the draft Law is compatible with the European Convention on Human Rights (“ECHR”). This is included for the information of States Members and should not be taken as, legal advice. The Minister has signed the Human Rights compatibility statement. The Minister has agreed to a request of the Health, Social Security and Housing Scrutiny Panel that the draft Law be listed for States debate in mid May in order to allow the Panel to conduct its own review of the draft Law.
Resource Implications: Policy - It is anticipated that, in 2013 and 2014, the cost of continuing to develop and prepare legislation for further characteristics and making the necessary preparations for the enactment and enforcement of the draft Law will be a maximum of £100,000 in each year. Advice, conciliation and enforcement - In 2015, costs are estimated to be £200,000 which includes the full year cost of enforcing the Law via the Tribunal (including Tribunal members pay for additional hearings and the increased usage of the service generally), the advisory services provided by JACS and CAB, and the costs of continuing to develop and prepare legislation for further characteristics. In subsequent years, enforcement and advisory costs are expected to increase slightly as each new characteristic is introduced, up to a maximum cost of £300,000 once all of the Regulations are in place. The above costs will be met from within resources approved in the Medium Term Financial Plan (MTFP) and carry-forward funds. States Human Resources - There is an expectation that the States will be an exemplar employer. During 2013 and 2014, data will be collected for the entire States workforce to provide a comprehensive record of the ethnic and racial background of States employees. A comprehensive training programme will be provided to all staff to support non-discriminatory behaviour. States human resources policies will be assessed and re-written to take into account the protected characteristics. Whilst there will be costs associated with these exercises, they will be undertaken as part of the Public Sector Reform programme. The potential cost to the Human Resources Department in defending discrimination complaints made to the Tribunal against the States will be met from within existing resources initially and monitored as further characteristics are introduced. It is difficult to predict the future costs in terms of the Law Officers’ Department time. In addition to the cases which reach the Tribunal and complaints which can be dealt with without reference to the Tribunal, there are likely to be other requests for legal advice on the interpretation of the Law from States Human Resources and other Departments. This advisory work may be expected to be more significant in the first year or so after the Law comes into force and that pattern may be repeated after the Law is extended to cover additional grounds for discrimination. Any costs which cannot be met from existing cash limits, including growth approved in the MTFP 2013-15, will need to be funded by the Council of Ministers from Contingency. Manpower – It is anticipated that the Judicial Greffe (which is responsible for the administration costs of enforcing the draft Law via the Tribunal) will require one additional part-time administrative post (at a maximum of Grade 8) to deal with the additional Tribunal workload and hearings from 2015. One full-time equivalent fixed-term administrative post (at a maximum of Grade 6) is expected to be required to collect data on the States workforce during 2013 and 2014. The Law Officers’ Department will try to manage the extra work within existing manpower resources; but should the extra work involved exceed that capacity, extra manpower would be requested.
Action required: Policy Principal to request the Greffier of the States to arrange for the draft Law to be lodged au Greffe, to be listed for debate by the States Assembly at the sitting of 14 May 2013.
Signature:		Position: Minister
Date Signed:		Date of Decision (If different from Date Signed):