| Guiding principle: |
In late 1998 the Respondents, Zafar Ali and Harmohinderpal Singh Sohal, both members of the Labour Party, were suspended by the National Executive Committee (¿the NEC¿) of the Labour Party from office within or representation of the Labour Party pending the outcome of a disciplinary investigation into alleged breaches of the Rules of the Labour Party. The Respondents complain that by that suspension they were discriminated against unlawfully on racial grounds. The central question on this appeal is whether such complaint falls within the scope of s. 12 (1)(c) of the Race Relations Act 1976 (¿the 1976 Act¿) so that the Employment Tribunal (¿the Tribunal¿) has jurisdiction to hear the Respondents¿ complaints. The Appellant is the General Secretary of the Labour Party and is sued on behalf of all the members of the party (¿the Labour Party¿). When the proceedings commenced, Margaret McDonagh was the General Secretary, but she has been succeeded by David Triesman. The Labour Party claimed that the Tribunal did not have jurisdiction. That claim was rejected by the Tribunal. The Labour Party¿s appeal was dismissed by the Employment Appeal Tribunal (¿the EAT¿) which also rejected a claim that the County Court had jurisdiction under s. 25 of the 1976 Act. The Labour Party appeals to this court with the permission of the EAT. |