Procurement and the Public Sector Equality Duty: Lessons for the Implementation of the Equality Act 2010 from Northern Ireland?

The use of public sector equality duties that require public authorities to do more than simply not discriminate and that in addition require such authorities in exercising their functions to actively promote equality has increasingly been considered as relevant for procurement. This article examines the Northern Ireland experience regarding the application of a public sector equality duty to procurement and addresses whether, and if so to what extent, this experience provides any useful lessons for the operation of the ‘equality duty’ in the recently enacted British Equality Act 2010.

Has EU Equality Law Gone Too Far?

This chapter considers whether EU equality law has gone too far, or not far enough, in seeking to regulate for equality. I argue that EU law in some respects has not gone far enough, whilst in other respects there is a danger that it may go too far.