# Employment Equality (Sexual Orientation) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2003, Regulation 2: Interpretation

Extent: N.I.

(1) The Interpretation Act (Northern Ireland) 1954 shall apply to these Regulations as it applies to an Act of the Assembly.
(2) In these Regulations “sexual orientation” means a sexual orientation towards –
(a) persons of the same sex;
(b) persons of the opposite sex; or
(c) persons of the same sex and of the opposite sex.
(3) In these Regulations, references to discrimination are to any discrimination falling within regulation 3 (discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation) or 4 (discrimination by way of victimisation) and related expressions shall be construed accordingly, and references to harassment shall be construed in accordance with regulation 5 (harassment on grounds of sexual orientation).
(4) In these Regulations –
“act” includes a deliberate omission;
“benefits”, except in regulation 11 (trustees and managers of occupational pension schemes), includes facilities and services;
“the Commission” means the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland established by section 73 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998;
“the Department” means the Office of the First Minister and deputy First Minister;
“detriment” does not include harassment within the meaning of regulation 5;
references to “employer”, in their application to a person at any time seeking to employ another, include a person who has no employees at that time;
“employment” means employment under a contract of service or of apprenticeship or a contract personally to do any work, and related expressions shall be construed accordingly;
“Minister of the Crown” includes the Treasury and the Defence Council;
“Northern Ireland” includes such of the territorial waters of the United Kingdom as are adjacent to Northern Ireland;
“Northern Ireland Minister” includes the First Minister and deputy First Minister acting jointly; and
“school” has the same meaning as in the Education and Libraries (Northern Ireland) Order 1986.

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Source: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/nisr/2003/497/regulation/2 (the official version)
Page: https://openlegislation.uk/employment-equality-sexual-orientation-regulations-northern-ireland-2003/regulation-2
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives.