E/CN.4/1996/72/Add.4 page 17 III. MEASURES TAKEN BY THE GOVERNMENT AND LOCAL COMMUNITIES 69. The measures taken by the Government and local communities to combat racism and racial discrimination were exhaustively presented in the fourth periodic report of the United Kingdom to the Human Rights Committee (CCPR/C/95/Add.3) and in its twelfth and thirteenth periodic reports to the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD/C/226/Add.4 and CERD/C/263/Add.7). The Special Rapporteur will therefore not go into detail on these measures in the present report but will limit himself to brief recapitulations, emphasizing those measures he believes to be most important. 70. These measures are legal and administrative. Various incentive measures have also been taken in the economic, social and cultural fields to ensure equal opportunity to ethnic minorities and the promotion of their culture. A. Legal and administrative measures 71. In the area of legislation, the principal instrument for combating racism and racial discrimination is the Race Relations Act, which covers numerous fields. Under its provisions, it is forbidden to practise racial discrimination in the fields of employment, education and access to property, equipment and services, including housing. It targets both direct racial discrimination whereby one individual is treated less favourably than another on racial grounds, whereby regulations and conditions are indirectly or involuntarily imposed, so that persons are put at a disadvantage because of race. The Act punishes any distinction, exclusion, restriction or preference based on race, colour, ancestry or national or ethnic origin which constitutes unfavourable treatment or treatment that puts a person at a disadvantage in any of the fields covered and which cannot be justified. 72. The Race Relations Act has undergone several amendments aimed at strengthening it and broadening its scope, in the field of housing for example. Its provisions now apply to professional relations between members of the Bar and between barristers and solicitors, under the 1990 Court and Legal Service Act. In addition, article 70 of the Act has been repealed, and the law on incitement to racial hatred incorporated in Title III of the 1986 Public Order Act. Under its terms, the act of publishing or distributing writings or expressing, in any public place or during any public meeting, remarks that are threatening, injurious or insulting and that are liable to arouse hatred towards any racial group in Great Britain constitutes an offence. 73. The Commission for Racial Equality is the agency created under the Race Relations Act to monitor its implementation. It is responsible for overseeing the elimination of racial discrimination and promoting equal opportunities and good race relations between the different ethnic groups within the British population. The Commission is also the main source of information and advice for the public and is empowered to provide legal assistance to individuals who feel they have been the victims of illegal discriminatory measures and wish to apply to the courts. The Commission further advises employers, trade unions and the police on the implementation of equal opportunity legislation.