The Christian Institute (CI) has warned that attempts to unify many years of equality laws in Northern Ireland could have unexpected consequences for religious liberty within the province.
The government of Northern Ireland is currently considering consolidating various pieces of equality laws, in a way that mirrors the Equality Act 2010, which was passed by the Westminster Parliament.
CI wrote to Northern Ireland’s Committee for the Executive Office in December, warning that errors made within the passing of the Equality Act made it difficult for British churches to know what rights and freedoms they possessed.
Last week CI’s Northern Ireland Policy Officer, James Kennedy, spoke to the committee and warned that the duty of unifying existing laws wouldn’t be easy and will have unexpected consequences.
Kennedy said that Northern Ireland has a “wealthy heritage” of spiritual freedom that legislators should “treasure and guard”.
One area of particular concern is the concept of extending third party harassment provisions in the sphere of employment. Kennedy warned that this could lead on to “a legal interest in businesses to police what members of the general public say”.
Kennedy also warned that the Equality Commission’s proposal that volunteers gain discrimination protections can be “unnecessary and unworkable” for churches and faith groups.
To exhibit the risks of unexpected consequences stemming from a change in equality laws, CI’s in-house solicitor, Sam Webster, pointed to the Ashers Baking Company case.
The case began when the Christian bakery was asked to make a cake decorated with a pro-gay marriage slogan. The bakers refused, as to achieve this would have contradicted their Christian beliefs.
After initially being found to have broken the law, the bakery was eventually exonerated in 2018 when the Supreme Court ruled of their favour. Notably it was the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland itself which took the bakery to court.
Webster told the committee, “I’m sure when the Fair Employment and Treatment Order was passed in 1998, no one ever envisaged the Ashers Baking Company case ending up on the Supreme Court.
“All we’re saying is, caution must be exercised because why should the citizen must go all the way in which as much as the UK Supreme Court with the intention to get the law clarified, with the intention to defend his or her rights to freedom of expression or religious freedom, and spend £300,000 to do this?”
