In northern ireland the introduction of a socio

In Northern Ireland , the introduction of a socio-economic status ground into equality
legislation has been under discussion since 2004. The Equality Commission for Northern
Ireland (ECNI) has not supported the introduction of this new ground in the legislation
mainly as it considers that it would place a burden on the Single Equality Act and would
shift the focus from disadvantaged groups to a more general level and to disadvantage
per se. However, in the same review ECNI clearly highlights the link between poverty and
inequalities faced by individuals protected under equality legislation and reports about
its recommendations to stakeholders to take action against poverty and social exclusion
experienced by a number of equality groups. This work does not only call attention to the
Equality and Rights Alliance
Socio-economic status ground in practice
15

risk of equality groups experiencing poverty and social exclusion, but it also points to the
effects of poverty on life chances and making it clear that socio-economic disadvantage
can reinforce and increase inequalities associated with equality grounds
76
.
These EU countries are mentioned in greater detail to exemplify the existence, use and
benefits of socio-economic grounds in equality legislation across Europe. However, it is to
be noted that a number of other countries have also introduced a socio-economic ground
in their legislation. Equinet’s 2015 report shows that such grounds are being implemented
in the equality legislation in Albania , Cyprus (importantly also named in the Constitution),
Latvia , Montenegro , Serbia and Slovakia . Equinet’s report provides an example where
the Commissioner for Protection of Equality (CPE) in Serbia found discrimination on
the ground of financial status and issued a recommendation to the Municipal Police that
had published a job advertisement requiring the results of a physical examination issued
by one specific health institution to be submitted. The candidates had to pay for the
examination themselves. The CPE found that this amounted to indirect discrimination
77
.
The detailed analysis of these countries’ experiences goes beyond the scope of this paper,
but it is suggested that it could provide further useful learning.
Outside the EU, the 2004 report assessing new grounds of discrimination in Ireland noted
that the most well-developed body of jurisprudence on social origin/socio-economic
status discrimination was to be found in Canada . It noted a variety of socio-economic
status-related grounds in the laws of different Canadian provinces and territories
78
and
no protection on this ground at the federal level. At the time of writing the 2004 report
a review of the Canadian Human Rights Act had led to proposals to introduce a socio-
economic status ground into the Act
79
. In 2016, section 3 of the Canadian Human Rights
Act still does not include a ground related to socio-economic status.