Akerman-Livingstone v Aster Communities Ltd

The Supreme Court has handed down an important decision addressing the proper approach of the courts when a defendant to a claim for possession of his home raises a defence of unlawful discrimination by the landlord, contrary to the Equality Act 2010. Specifically, the Supreme Court considered whether such defences may be dealt with in the same way as defences alleging a breach of Article 8 of the ECHR.

The Supreme Court unanimously held that the courts below had erred by approaching a defence of unlawful disability discrimination in the same way as a defence based on Article 8 ECHR. The Court considered that the substantive right to equal treatment protected by the Equality Act 2010 is different from and extra to the Article 8 right; it applies to private as well as public landlords; it prohibits discriminatory treatment, for example, by evicting a black person where a white person would not be evicted; and it grants additional rights to disabled people to reasonable adjustments to meet their particular needs.

In the context of this case, however, the Supreme Court considered that there was no point in allowing the appeal and remitting it to the county court, as supervening events meant that a possession order would be inevitable.

The full judgment can be read here: http://www.bailii.org/uk/cases/UKSC/2015/15.html 

Monica Carss-Frisk QC and Jason Pobjoy acted for the Equality and Human Rights Commission. Monica and Jason have recently been appointed to the Commission's new Panel of Counsel.