The government has expressed its commitment to maintain equalities legislation post Brexit. The exclusion of the EU Charter from the UK law after exit day has raised many challenging question on the future of equality law.

The workshop will build upon the conversation from a similar event held last year, The Impact of Brexit on Equality Rights, which was highly successful and attracted a number of leading figures including the Chief Executives of the Equality and Human Rights Commission and the Northern Ireland Equality Commission, the Deputy Director of the Government Equality Office, the chair of the Conservative Lawyers Association, the Legal Advisor to the Women and Equalities Commission, members of the House of Lords, academics, QCs and chief executives from a number of NGOs.

The workshop is closed and will be held under Chatham House rules to guarantee free and open discussion. It will be looking at the following questions:  

Equality and Brexit: How will new legislation on equality be generated without the impetus of the EU?

The EU Charter, the Equality Act and Human Rights: How will the European Union (Withdrawal) Bill affect equality rights? And can the Equality Act and the Human Rights Act be used to bolster any “losses”? What might be missing? What might be strategically unwise to draw on? Is there any role for the common law?

The Role of the Court of Justice of the EU: Is this an indirect route to bring the EU Charter into the UK? What role can other international and regional courts, tribunals or treaty bodies play in the development of UK equality law?

Equality and Post-Brexit Trade: Can labour rights be front and centre in future trade negotiations? What rights need to be stressed? How would these be enforced?

The report from The Impact of Brexit on Equality can be found here. You can also listen to our RightsUp #RightNow podcasts on Brexit: The View Beyond Brexit: Equality Rights in Northern Ireland After Divorce with Evelyn Collins (Equality Commission for Northern Ireland) and The Impact of Brexit on Human Rights in Northern Ireland with Colin Harvey (Queen’s University Belfast). 

This workshop is being co-hosted with UK in a Changing Europe.