16 Racial Discrimination
Download Racial Discrimination (PDF File, 173kb)
2. When discrimination can happen
6. Discrimination when renting or buying a house or flat
7. Discrimination at school or college
8. Discrimination when buying goods or services
9. What you can do about discrimination
10. Going to an employment tribunal
11. Going to court
If you want to take a case to a county court, you must start your case within six months less one day from the date when you first knew about the discrimination. There are specially selected courts for dealing with discrimination cases, which can give you copies of the claim form (N1) and more information about procedures.
You should be able to get details of the courts that deal with discrimination cases from:
- any county court; or
- the CRE.
How will I pay for my case?
If you are claiming less than £5,000, your case can be dealt with fairly simply and cheaply on the ‘small claims track’. If you do this, you won’t need a solicitor to represent you, but you should get advice before starting your claim.
If you are claiming more than £5,000, you need to think carefully about how you will pay for your case, because the costs can be very high. If you cannot afford to pay for court action yourself, there are several ways you may be able to pay for your case:
- The CRE may take on your case as a ‘test case’.
- You may be able to get funding from the Community Legal Service (formerly called Legal Aid), provided you meet certain conditions. See ‘The Community Legal Service’ for how to find out more about this.
- You may be able to find a solicitor who will take on your case under a ‘no-win, no-fee’ agreement. See the Community Legal Advice leaflet ‘’ for more about this.
This leaflet is published by the Legal Services Commission (LSC). It was written in association with the Commission for Racial Equality.
Leaflet Version: November 2007