TOWARDS THE REASONABLE ACCOMMODATION OF RELIGIOUS FREEDOM

Abstract

The Court of Appeal’s decision in Mrs Mba’s case is notable because: (a) it rejects the qualitative evaluation of her Sabbatarian belief as a “core component” of Christianity in assessing for the purposes of domestic anti-discrimination legislation the proportionality of her employer’s requirement for her to work Sundays; (b) it continues to keep minimal the size of the group required to show group disadvantage; and (c) per Elias LJ and Vos LJ, it finds the assessment of group disadvantage to be incompatible with Article 9 when the ECHR is engaged. The case represents the continued move from a group to an individual focus, and is welcome: it better protects personal religious freedoms. The logical conclusion is for domestic law to oblige employers to reasonably accommodate religious rights via a sui generis legal mechanism.