Informing us about your discrimination claim

Advice and Guidance

Who is this page for?

  • people bringing a discrimination claim in court

Which countries is it relevant to?

    • England flag icon

      England

    • |
    • Scotland flag icon

      Scotland

    • |
    • Wales flag icon

      Wales

Coronavirus (COVID-19) update

Following government advice to contain the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19), all our offices have been closed and staff are now working from home.

During this time we will not be able to collect any post sent to our offices. Please ensure that any correspondence is sent by email until further notice.

If these temporary arrangements are not accessible to you, please contact us on 0161 829 8327, leave a message and we will call you back to discuss ways of making adjustments.

When you bring a discrimination claim relating to equality in county court (England and Wales) or sheriff court (Scotland), you need to send us information about your claim.

England and Wales

There is no set format that this information needs to take. We suggest sending us a copy of the claim form and a letter stating:

  • that you are giving the Equality and Human Rights Commission notice of the issuing of proceedings under the Equality Act 2010
  • the name of the other party
  • the name of the court 
  • the case number

Please send this to us by email:

commencementofproceedings@equalityhumanrights.com

Do not send confidential documents. 

Scotland

In Scotland you should send us a copy of the writ or statement of claim.

Please send this to us by email:

legalrequestscotland@equalityhumanrights.com

Why you need to send this

Court rules say that when you bring a complaint relating to equality you must let the Equality and Human Rights Commission know about it. 

For claims in county court (England and Wales), this is set out in paragraph 2 of the rules (known as a Practice Direction), under section 114 of the Equality Act 2010.

For claims in sheriff court (Scotland), this is set out in Rule 44.2 of the Ordinary Cause Rules and Rule 17.14 of the Simple Procedure Rules.  

The purpose is for us to see the nature and volume of discrimination law cases brought to the courts. It also provides us with the opportunity to intervene in a case under Section 30 of the Equality Act 2006.

We do this if the case is in line with our litigation and enforcement policy and we think we can assist the court by providing expert testimony. Therefore, information that gives enough detail for us to consider this is useful.

The information we receive is for intelligence purposes only and is not routinely published. It is logged and stored in accordance with our security and data retention policies. To see how we use your personal data when you give it to us, please see the Privacy Notice.

Last updated: 27 Apr 2022

Further information

If you think you might have been treated unfairly and want further advice, you can contact the Equality Advisory and Support Service.

Phone: 0808 800 0082
Textphone: 0808 800 0084

You can email using the contact form on the EASS website.

Also available through the website are BSL interpretation, web chat services and a contact us form.

Post:
FREEPOST
EASS HELPLINE
FPN6521

Opening hours:

9am to 7pm Monday to Friday
10am to 2pm Saturday
closed on Sundays and Bank Holidays

Alternatively, you can visit our advice and guidance page.