Caste discrimination is not expressly prohibited currently under UK equality legislation, but S.9 of the Equality Act 2010, requires the Government to introduce secondary legislation to make “caste” an aspect of race, thereby making caste discrimination a form of race discrimination. The Commons Library have published a standard note ‘The Equality Act 2010: caste discrimination’, which provides an overview of the concept of caste, explains the existing law and sets out the background to the order-making power in the Equality Act 2010. The note highlights that the concept of “caste” is complex, although it is generally understood to refer to hereditary, endogamous (marrying within the group) communities differentiated according to different functions of life, such as occupation. The note indicates that the Government has provisionally indicated that the anti-caste discrimination legislation will be introduced to Parliament during summer 2015.

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