Equalities experts call for review of Catholic schools’ right to vet applicants for religious suitability

Scottish Catholic schools’ legal right to vet teaching staff for religious suitability should be reviewed, the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has told the Scottish government.

The EHRC wants the law on “Catholic approval”, that any teacher appointed to a Catholic school must be approved in terms of “religious belief and character” under the Education (Scotland) Act 1980, re-examined.

Catholic teachers must obtain references from their parish priest but under the European Union’s equality directive such a requirement must be proportional.

Referring to a case in which the Employment Tribunal found in favour of an applicant rejected on the basis he lacked suitability, the EHRC said in its report: “The tribunal found it was not essential for the position to be filled by a Roman Catholic since only a few responsibilities of the job required knowledge of Catholic doctrine.”

It added: “We did not receive strong, consistent, evidence about the impact of this legislation on the way in which individual teachers may have been adversely affected.

“Although there is little evidence about impact, in the interest of clarity and consistency of equality law, we recommend the Scottish Government review the impact of … the Education (Scotland) Act to ensure its compatibility with the EU directive.

“It is important we ensure teachers are able to pursue their careers without unjustifiable limitations being placed upon them.”

It added it would consider “providing assistance or intervening as a third party” in legal cases initiated as a result of the apparent flaws in the system.

Gordon MacRae, chief executive of the Humanist Society Scotland (HSS), said: “With the people of Scotland having voted decisively to retain EU employment protections ministers should have nothing to fear from acting swiftly.

“For too long teachers have had to face systemic discrimination across a host of subjects areas where their religion and beliefs should have no bearing on their suitability for employment.”

But a spokesman for the Catholic Church said European case law had vindicated schools’ approach to recruitment.

He said: “The European Court has consistently decided in favour of religious schools when such employment cases have come before it. Getting your facts right is the first step on a legal challenge.”