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.

2.3.1. A sliding scale.

A right to equality and non-discrimination is widely seen as fundamental in democratic legal systems. But failure to identify the human interest that equality aims to uphold reinforces the argument of those who attack it as morally empty or unsubstantiated and weakens its status as a fundamental human right. This book argues that an understanding of the human interest which equality aims to uphold is feasible within the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) and the European Court of Justice (ECJ). In comparing the evolution of the prohibition of discrimination in the case-law of both Courts, Charilaos Nikolaidis demonstrates that conceptual convergence within the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and the EU on the issue of equality is not as far as it might appear initially. While the two bodies of equality law are extremely divergent as to the requirements they impose, their interpretation by the international judiciary might be properly analysed under a common light to emphasise the substantive dimension of equality in European Human Rights law. The book will be of great use and interest to scholars and students of human rights, discrimination law, and European politics.

This book is published open access under a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 license. This book analyzes issues in human rights law from a variety of perspectives by eminent European and Asian professors of constitutional law, international public law, and European Union law. As a result, their contributions collected here illustrate the phenomenon of cross-fertilization not only in Europe (the EU and its member states and the Council of Europe), but also between Europe and Asia. Furthermore, it reveals the influence that national and foreign law, EU law and the European Convention on Human Rights, and European and Asian law exert over one another. The various chapters cover general fundamental rights and human rights issues in Europe and Asia as well as specific topics regarding the principles of nondiscrimination, women’s rights, the right to freedom of speech in Japan, and China’s Development Banks in Asia. Protection of human rights should be guaranteed in the international community, and research based on a comparative law approach is useful for the protection of human rights at a higher level. As the product of academic cooperation between ten professors of Japanese, Taiwanese, German, Italian, and Belgian nationalities, this work responds to such needs.

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.

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.