Equality and Non-Discrimination

Abstract:     
This chapter explores the extent to which English public law applies principles of equality and non-discrimination to the activities of public authorities in England, broadly defined to include Parliament, the executive, and the courts. The difficulty in expressing the principles of equality and non-discrimination currently applicable in English public law derives from several different aspects of the way these principles have emerged and currently arise. There is no one legal meaning of equality or discrimination applicable in the different circumstances; the meanings of equality and discrimination are diverse. There is no consistency in the circumstances in which stronger or weaker conceptions of equality and discrimination currently apply. There is no one organizing principle or purpose underlying the principle of equality and non-discrimination currently applicable; the justifications offered for the legal principles of equality and non-discrimination are diverse. Equality in English public law is then essentially pluralistic in its sources, in its origins, in its meaning, in its application, and in its functions.

Keywords: discrimination, equality, public law, England, Europe

JEL Classification: K23, K19, K20, K30

Accepted Paper Series