The Commission for Equality and Human Rights:A New Institution for New and Uncertain Times

摘要

The establishment of the Commission for Equality and Human Rights (CEHR) has generated a mixture of praise, controversy and heightened expectations. The new Commission has more extensive enforcement powers than did the previous equality commissions. In addition, the ongoing expansion of anti-discrimination law means that the CEHR has new terrain on which to press for change. However, its troubled birth, the pressure of expectation, the ever-increasing complexity of enforcing anti-discrimination legislation and the tensions that lurk within its broad remit present substantial challenges for the new Commission. It will have to be flexible, creative, strategic and tough-minded where required if it is to win credibility and ensure respect for anti-discrimination and human rights values.