Sex Discrimination Act 1975 (repealed)

85 Application to Crown. E+W+S

(1) This Act applies—

(a) to an act done by or for purposes of a Minister of the Crown or government department, or

(b) to an act done on behalf of the Crown by a statutory body, or a person holding a statutory office,

as it applies to an act done by a private person.

(2) Parts II and IV apply to—

(a) service for purposes of a Minister of the Crown or government department, other than service of a person holding a statutory office, or

(b) service on behalf of the Crown for purposes of a person holding a statutory office or purposes of a statutory body, [F1 or

(c) service in the armed forces,]

as they apply to employment by a private person, and shall so apply as if references to a contract of employment included references to the terms of service.

(3) Subsections (1) and (2) have effect subject to section 17.

[F2 (3A) Section 21A binds the Crown.]

[F3 (3B) Section 76A binds the Crown.]

[F4 (4) Nothing in this Act shall render unlawful an act done for the purpose of ensuring the combat effectiveness of the [F5 armed forces.]]

(5) F6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

F7 (6) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

(7) Subsection (2) of section 10 shall have effect in relation to any ship, aircraft or hovercraft belonging to or possessed by Her Majesty in right of the Government of the United Kingdom as it has effect in relation to a ship, aircraft or hovercraft mentioned in paragraph (a) or (b) of that subsection, and section 10(5) shall apply accordingly.

(8) The provisions of Parts II to IV of the M1 Crown Proceedings Act 1947 shall apply to proceedings against the Crown under this Act as they apply to proceedings in England and Wales which by virtue of section 23 of that Act are treated for the purposes of Part II of that Act as civil proceedings by or against the Crown F8 . . . .

(9) The provisions of Part V of the M2 Crown Proceedings Act 1947 shall apply to proceedings against the Crown under this Act as they apply to proceedings in Scotland which by virtue of the said Part are treated as civil proceedings by or against the Crown, except that in their application to proceedings under this Act the proviso to section 44 of that Act (removal of proceedings from the sheriff court to the Court of Session) shall not apply.

[F9 (9A) This subsection applies to any complaint by a person (“the complainant”) that another person—

(a) has committed an act of discrimination against the complainant which is unlawful by virtue of section 6; or

(b) is by virtue of section 41 or 42 to be treated as having committed such an act of discrimination against the complainant,

if at the time when the act complained of was done the complainant was serving in the armed forces and the discrimination in question relates to his service in those forces.

(9B) No complaint to which subsection (9A) applies shall be presented to an [F10 employment tribunal] under section 63 unless—

(a) the complainant has made a complaint to an officer under the service redress procedures applicable to him and has submitted that complaint to the Defence Council under those procedures; and

(b) the Defence Council have made a determination with respect to the complaint.

(9C) Regulations may make provision enabling a complaint to which subsection (9A) applies to be presented to an [F10 employment tribunal] under section 63 in such circumstances as may be specified by the regulations, notwithstanding that subsection (9B) would otherwise preclude the presentation of the complaint to an [F10 employment tribunal].

(9D) Where a complaint is presented to an [F10 employment tribunal] under section 63 by virtue of regulations under subsection (9C), the service redress procedures may continue after the complaint is so presented.

(9E) Regulations under subsection (9C) shall be made by the Secretary of State by statutory instrument and shall be subject to annulment in pursuance of a resolution of either House of Parliament.]

[F11 (10) In this section—

• “armed forces” means any of the naval, military or air forces of the Crown;

• “service for purposes of a Minister of the Crown or government department” does not include service in any office for the time being mentioned in Schedule 2 (Ministerial offices) to the M3 House of Commons Disqualification Act 1975;

• “the service redress procedures” means the procedures, excluding those which relate to the making of a report on a complaint to Her Majesty, referred to in section 180 of the M4 Army Act 1955, section 180 of the M5 Air Force Act 1955 and section 130 of the M6 Naval Discipline Act 1957; and

• “statutory body” means a body set up by or in pursuance of an enactment and “statutory office” means an office so set up.]

Textual Amendments

F1 S. 85(2)(c) and words in s. 85(2)(b) inserted (1.10.1997) by 1996 c. 46, s. 21(2); S.I. 1997/2164, art. 2

F2 S. 85(3A) inserted (6.4.2007) by Equality Act 2006 (c. 3), ss. 83(4), 93 (with s. 92); S.I. 2007/1082, art. 4(a)

F3 S. 85(3B) inserted (6.4.2007) by Equality Act 2006 (c. 3), ss. 84(3), 93 (with s. 92); S.I. 2007/1082, art. 4(b)

F4 S. 85(4) substituted (1.2.1995) by S.I. 1994/3276, reg. 2(a)

F5 Words in s. 85(4) substituted (1.10.1997) by 1996 c. 46, s. 21(3); S.I. 1997/2164, art. 2

F6 S. 85(5) omitted (1.10.2005) by virtue of The Employment Equality (Sex Discrimination) Regulations 2005 (S.I. 2005/2467), reg. 34

F7 S. 85(6) repealed (1.2.1995) by S.I. 1994/3276, reg. 2(b)

F8 Words in s. 85(8) repealed by The Civil Procedure (Modification of Crown Proceedings Act 1947) Order 2005 (S.I. 2005/2712), art. 3, Sch. 2 para. 1

F9 S. 85(9A)-(9E) inserted (1.10.1997) by 1996 c. 46, s. 21(4); S.I. 1997/2164, art. 2

F10 Words in s. 85(9B)(9C)(9D) substituted (1.8.1998) by 1998 c. 8, s. 1(2)(a); S.I. 1998/1658, art. 2, Sch. 1 (with art. 3)

F11 S. 85(10) substituted (1.10.1997) by 1996 c. 46, s. 21(5); S.I. 1997/2164, art. 2

Marginal Citations

M1 1947 c. 44.

M2 1947 c. 44.

M3 1975 c. 24.

M4 1955 c. 18.

M5 1955 c. 19.

M6 1957 c. 53.