Should the Equality Act be amended to make explicit reference to ‘conscience’?

This article assesses the case for explicitly including conscience alongside ‘religion and belief’ to form an expanded protected characteristic under the Equality Act 2010. The function of conscience as a critic and judge of an individual’s actions is discussed and the imperative for accommodating conscience thereby established. The current specific statutory protections for conscience at work are considered and it is noted that these are predominantly within the healthcare field and narrowly drawn such that they provide protection for a small number of people in narrowly defined circumstances. The extent to which conscience is protected under Article 9 ECHR is also explored, as a possible model for the Equality Act, and some ambiguities noted. How far the Equality Act currently protects conscience is considered through a discussion of relevant case law and it is observed that conscience is only protected when it overlaps with religion and belief and that protection is qualified to a significant degree. It is concluded that there are likely to be benefits to including conscience explicitly within the Equality Act but those benefits are likely to widen the scope of, rather than necessarily deepen, existing protections, as there is little evidence that conscience would be accorded more weight than religion or belief when balanced against other rights.