The principles of equality and non-discrimination lie at the heart of international human rights law. They are the only human rights explicitly included in the UN Charter and they appear at the beginning of virtually every major human rights instrument. This volume contains selected works by leading authors on the subject of equality and non-discrimination under international law. The selections are grouped into four sections. The first presents essays that explore theoretical concepts of equality and non-discrimination. The next addresses the development of international legal standards on the subject. The third presents articles analyzing how those standards have been interpreted and applied by UN and regional human rights bodies, and the last contains works on what measures besides legal action States are to take to in order to achieve equality and non-discrimination.

Discussing the fundamental role played by equality and non-discrimination in the EU legal order, this insightful book explores the positive and negative elements that have contributed to the consolidation of the process of EU legal integration. It provides an in-depth analysis of the three key dimensions of equality in the EU: equality as a value, equality as a principle and equality as a right.

History of discrimination and equal opportunity under international law - discusses replacement of minority group protection by human rights; covers racial discrimination, sex discrimination, language discrimination and religious discrimination; examines role of UN and specialized agencies, role of ILO and ILO Conventions, judicial decisions, etc.

The case-law of the European Court of Human Rights on discrimination under the Convention is typically considered to be unclear and conflicting. Against that background, new possibilities for more effective protection against discrimination are opening up through recent developments in the case-law on Article 14 and with the advent of the new Protocol 12 to the Convention. This study demonstrates that the 'objective and reasonable justification' test and convenional treatment of non-discrimination are not apt for dealing with these emerging new possibilities or for explaining the variations in existing case-law. It therefore suggests a new approach to dealing with protection against discrimination under the Convention, developed by focusing on variations in the strictness of objective justification review. This study proposes a more viable framework for understanding discrimination analysis under the Convention which includes an alternative interpretation of the burden of proof under Article 14 and a three-tiered model of factors that influences the strictness of review.

This volume explores ways of understanding equality and non-discrimination. Drawing on the timeless logic of realist philosophy, Catholic morality, and Catholic social teaching, the authors seek to provide intellectual clarity on many controversial questions. The contributors are lawyers, philosophers, and theologians who offer rich insights into the modern crisis of social thought on equality. They examine various global assaults on human life, marriage, the family, and the natural dignity of masculinity and femininity. They seek to uphold the essential foundations of reality for the attainment of the common good. The contributors attempt to move beyond a positivist mentality in order to evaluate the first principles of the natural law in which all human law is grounded. The various chapters evaluate developments and application of theories of equality and non-discrimination in the history of Western thought; in modern European practice; in contemporary inter-American practice; in the Asian setting; in the Middle East and North Africa; and in the Catholic canon law tradition. The authors strive to restore a universally valid conception of equality and non-discrimination as understood within the Catholic tradition.

This open access book presents a discussion on human rights-based attributes for each article pertinent to the substantive rights of children, as defined in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). It provides the reader with a unique and clear overview of the scope and core content of the articles, together with an analysis of the latest jurisprudence of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child. For each article of the UNCRC, the authors explore the nature and scope of corresponding State obligations, and identify the main features that need to be taken into consideration when assessing a State’s progressive implementation of the UNCRC. This analysis considers which aspects of a given right are most important to track, in order to monitor States' implementation of any given right, and whether there is any resultant change in the lives of children. This approach transforms the narrative of legal international standards concerning a given right into a set of characteristics that ensure no aspect of said right is overlooked. The book develops a clear and comprehensive understanding of the UNCRC that can be used as an introduction to the rights and principles it contains, and to identify directions for future policy and strategy development in compliance with the UNCRC. As such, it offers an invaluable reference guide for researchers and students in the field of childhood and children’s rights studies, as well as a wide range of professionals and organisations concerned with the subject.

As part of a larger research project on harmonisation and convergence among UN human rights treaty bodies, scrutinises convergence and divergence, communality, and related issues. Focuses on five Committees: The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD), the Human Rights Committee (HRC), the International Covenant on Economics, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR), the Convention on the Elimination of All forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC).

In Equality and Anti-Discrimination: The Road to Equal Rights in China, Professors Liu Xiaonan and Wang Liwan collecte experienced scholars in the field of anti-discrimination law to conduct deep discussions on the manifestations, causes, and solutions of discrimination issues in China.

Equality and non-discrimination: A core principle of all human rights and fundamental freedoms. Ensuring equal opportunities for persons with disabilities is an important facilitator of participation and inclusion in society. Both the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) and the Council of Europe Disability Strategy 2017-2023 address equality and equalisation of opportunities for persons with disabilities. Article 5 of the UNCPRD requires States to adopt positive measures aimed at ensuring equality across the substantive rights in the Convention. The Council of Europe Disability Strategy aims at guiding and supporting the activities of Council of Europe member States in their implementation of the UNCRPD and Council of Europe standards regarding disability, and similarly addresses equality and non-discrimination. The overall goal of this study is to analyse the obligations contained in the UNCRPD regarding equality and non-discrimination, and to provide examples of good national practices regarding equality and non-discrimination.

Social Justice is a concept familiar to most Indians but one whose meaning is not always understood as it signifies a variety of government strategies designed to enhance opportunities for underprivileged groups. By tracing the trajectory of social justice from the colonial period to the present, this book examines how it informs ideas, practices and debates on discrimination and disadvantage today. After outlining the historical context for reservations for scheduled castes and scheduled tribes that began under British colonial rule, the book examines the legal and moral strands of demands raised by newer groups since 1990. In addition the book shows how the development of quota policies has been significantly influenced by the nature and operation of democracy in India. It describes the recent proliferation of quota demands for reservations in higher education, private sector and for women and religious minorities in legislative assemblies. The book goes on to argue that while proliferation of demands address unequal incidence of poverty, deprivation and inequalities across social groups and communities, care has to be taken to ensure that existing justifications for quotas for discriminated groups due to caste hierarchies are not undermined. Providing a rich historical background to the subject, the book is a useful contribution to the study on the evolution of multiple conceptions of social justice in contemporary India.