header-logo header-logo

Home Login E-newsletter About us
10 December 2020 / Nicholas Dobson
Issue: 7914 / Categories: Features , Charities , Housing , Local government
printer mail-detail

Beyond the looking-glass: discriminating charities

© Copyright LexisNexis 2026. All Rights Reserved.
34190
R (on the application of Z) v Hackney London Borough Council: Nicholas Dobson navigates the Supreme Court’s path through a hall of mirrors
  • A housing charity did not unlawfully discriminate when in pursuance of its charitable objects it allocated all its properties to members of the Orthodox Jewish community.

In his 1872 masterpiece, Oxford Christ Church mathematics lecturer Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, (otherwise known as Lewis Carroll) introduced us to Tweedledum and Tweedledee. After Alice had regaled them by reciting an ‘old song’, they gave her a short philosophical disquisition:

‘I know what you’re thinking about,’ said Tweedledum: ‘but it isn’t so, nohow.’

‘Contrariwise,’ continued Tweedledee, ‘if it was so, it might be; and if it were so, it would be; but as it isn’t, it ain’t. That’s logic.’

Such clarity of concept came to mind at times when navigating some of the arguments in a 16 October 2020 Supreme Court decision on anti-discrimination law and charities. This was R (on the application of Z and another) v Hackney London Borough Council and another [2020] UKSC 40, [2020]

If you are not a subscriber, subscribe now to read this content
If you are already a subscriber sign in
...or Register for two weeks' free access to subscriber content

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Read All
Sponsored by
Hogan Lovells—Lisa Quelch

Hogan Lovells—Lisa Quelch

Partner hire strengthens global infrastructure and energy financing practice

Sherrards—Jan Kunstyr

Sherrards—Jan Kunstyr

Legal director bolsters international expertise in dispute resolution team

Muckle LLP—Stacey Brown

Muckle LLP—Stacey Brown

Corporate governance and company law specialist joins the team

NEWS
Read All
Legal notice: Notice under the Trustee Act 1925

NOTICE UNDER THE TRUSTEE ACT 1925

HERBERT SMITH STAFF PENSION SCHEME (THE “SCHEME”)

NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND BENEFICIARIES UNDER SECTION 27 OF THE TRUSTEE ACT 1925
Emergency lawyers on call as international regulatory actions soar
Law firm HFW is offering clients lawyers on call for dawn raids, sanctions issues and other regulatory emergencies
NLJ this week: Employment law’s fine margins
From gender-critical speech to notice periods and incapability dismissals, employment law continues to turn on fine distinctions. In his latest employment law brief for NLJ, Ian Smith of Norwich Law School reviews a cluster of recent decisions, led by Bailey v Stonewall, where the Court of Appeal clarified the limits of third-party liability under the Equality Act
NLJ this week: Promises broken on non-molestation orders?
Non-molestation orders are meant to be the frontline defence against domestic abuse, yet their enforcement often falls short. Writing in NLJ this week, Jeni Kavanagh, Jessica Mortimer and Oliver Kavanagh analyse why the criminalisation of breach has failed to deliver consistent protection
NLJ this week: Assisted dying under the legal microscope
Assisted dying remains one of the most fraught fault lines in English law, where compassion and criminal liability sit uncomfortably close. Writing in NLJ this week, Julie Gowland and Barny Croft of Birketts examine how acts motivated by care—booking travel, completing paperwork, or offering emotional support—can still fall within the wide reach of the Suicide Act 1961
Copyright © 2026 LexisNexis
back-to-top-scroll