PART TWO: CONTENT OF COMPREHENSIVE ANTI-DISCRIMINATION LAW remove discriminatory laws, policies and practices and remove barriers that prevent access; and adopt and implement proactive accessibility standards. 2. Statutory equality duties SUMMARY PART TWO – I • Equality duties offer an effective and necessary means to operationalize the rights to equality and non-discrimination and ensure their integration into the work of public authorities and other duty bearers. Equality duties enable States to meet their obligations to respect, protect and fulfil the rights to equality and non-discrimination. • In national practice, States have adopted a diverse range of equality duties, which may be divided into three principal categories: (a) preventative duties, which seek to avert acts of discrimination before they occur; (b) institutional duties, which seek to promote equality in the work of public and private sector organizations; and (c) mainstreaming duties, which seek to integrate and centralize equality planning in the fields of public decision-making. In an increasing number of countries, statutory equality duties have been established as a means to give effect to States’ equality and non-discrimination obligations. These duties seek to ensure social and institutional change by providing a legal framework through which the rights to equality and non-discrimination can be integrated in decision-making processes and internalized by duty bearers. Several different models of statutory equality duty have been adopted, each of which focuses on eliminating discrimination and the achievement of substantive equality.542 Thus, equality duties play a dual role – enabling States to meet their obligation to refrain from discrimination, while also providing a mechanism through which the right to equality can be operationalized and so supporting the adoption of positive action measures. Statutory equality duties impose an obligation on relevant duty bearers to follow a particular decision-making process or adopt a procedure aimed at mainstreaming the rights to equality and non-discrimination. These duties may differ greatly, both in respect of their aims, outcomes and mechanics of operation. In some countries, such as the United Kingdom, equality duties are couched in broad terms, requiring that public bodies have “due regard to the need to … eliminate discrimination”, “advance equality of opportunity” and “foster good relations between persons” when carrying out their activities.543 In other countries, a specific set of measures, such as the adoption of an equality plan or the collection of disaggregated data in areas such as employment or education, may be required. The obligations imposed by equality duties are procedural in nature and are enforceable in the absence of an individual victim of discrimination. In this sense, these duties mark a shift from a “reactive” model of anti-discrimination law, which aims to remedy individual rights violations, to a proactive “compliancebased” model, under which the failure to fulfil a procedural obligation to adopt or follow a legislated policy requirement may itself give rise to a legal claim.544 These two systems are mutually supportive and can be reaffirming. In some countries, such as Sweden, for instance, non-performance of a statutory equality duty may serve to support a discrimination claim by giving rise to an inference of discrimination.545 In 2016, Equinet, the European Network of Equality Bodies, published a study on the use of statutory equality duties in Europe that proposed a typology of equality duties with three main categories: (a) preventative duties, aimed at preventing acts of discrimination; (b) institutional duties, aimed at promoting the right to equality 542 See, broadly, Niall Crowley, Making Europe More Equal: A Legal Duty? (Brussels, Equinet, 2016). Available at www.archive. equineteurope.org/IMG/pdf/positiveequality_duties-finalweb.pdf. 543 Equality Act, 2010, sect. 149 (1). 544 Beth Gaze and Belinda Smith, Equality and Discrimination Law in Australia: An Introduction (Cambridge, United Kingdom, Cambridge University Press, 2016), chap. 8 (positive action). 545 Submission by Stockholm University/Equality Ombudsman of Sweden. 69