2 results
Sandra Fredman: Discrimination Law (Th ird Edition)
- Edited by Philip Czech, Universität Salzburg, Lisa Heschl, Karl-Franzens-Universität Graz, Austria, Karin Lukas, Central European University, Budapest, Manfred Nowak, Universität für angewandte Kunst Wien, Gerd Oberleitner, Karl-Franzens-Universität Graz, Austria
-
- Book:
- European Yearbook on Human Rights 2023
- Published by:
- Intersentia
- Published online:
- 04 April 2024
- Print publication:
- 30 November 2023, pp 683-684
-
- Chapter
- Export citation
-
Summary
Despite the recognition of the right to non-discrimination as a fundamental principle in international law, true equality remains elusive. This encourages a closer look at existing protection systems and their strengths and weaknesses. In her recent book, Sandra Fredman offers a comprehensive introduction to contemporary anti-discrimination law and frames it in its historical and social context. By conducting a comparative analysis of equality laws in the United States, India, Canada and South Africa, as well as the United Kingdom, the European Union, and the European Convention on Human Rights, the author critically examines the strengths and weaknesses in the various legal frameworks, and explores the reasons for their limited successes in achieving substantive equality.
The introductory chapter presents the complexity of ‘equality’ as a universal value, from a legal-philosophical perspective. It offers an examination of various theories on equality as the foundation of legislation, highlighting their inherent limitations and strengths. Moreover, the chapter focuses on the tension between the claim of non-discrimination and competing human rights, such as freedom of expression. Special attention is placed on the complex relationship between freedom, economic rights and the challenge of establishing a definitive hierarchy between the right to equality and other fundamental human rights.
Recognising that contemporary anti-discrimination law is embedded in a historical, political and cultural context, Fredman dedicates two chapters to the evolution of discrimination protection. The author concentrates on gender, ethnicity, religion, disability and age, as well as LGBTQIA + rights. She highlights societal challenges and corresponding legal responses, thereby establishing a connection to the contemporary legal framework in the nations under comparison.
In Chapters 4 and 5, the author undertakes a detailed analysis of the scope of discrimination law and how different legal systems address protected categories, delving into key concepts such as direct discrimination (unequal treatment) and indirect discrimination (unequal effects). Through this analysis, she highlights the central dilemma of equality law, which lies in differentiating between (unlawful) discriminatory acts against protected characteristics, and legitimate differentiation. Furthermore, Fredman assesses which characteristics should be protected at all costs, and identifies the common thread connecting all these protected characteristics. The chapter also explores the role of duty-bearers and the scope of anti-discrimination law, with a particular focus on the public and private spheres.
Abdullahi Ahmed An-Naim: Decolonizing Human Rights
- Edited by Philip Czech, Universität Salzburg, Lisa Heschl, Karl-Franzens-Universität Graz, Austria, Karin Lukas, Ludwig Boltzmann Institut für Menschenrechte, Austria, Manfred Nowak, Global Campus of Human Rights, Venice and Universität für angewandte Kunst Wien, Gerd Oberleitner, Karl-Franzens-Universität Graz, Austria
-
- Book:
- European Yearbook on Human Rights 2022
- Published by:
- Intersentia
- Published online:
- 20 April 2023
- Print publication:
- 30 November 2022, pp 781-784
-
- Chapter
- Export citation
-
Summary
Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2021, 140 pages, £ 26.99
In his latest book, Abdullahi Ahmed An-Naim examines the relationship between human rights, the lack of success in protecting them, and the continuing neocolonial infl uence of former colonial powers in international relations, but also in terms of the framing of human rights. The author analyses the reasons for the ineff ectiveness of global human rights protection and identifi es viable alternatives, on a theoretical and practical level, to overcome these challenges.
In the first two chapters, An-Naim argues that the main reason for the lack of success of existing human rights protection is that the treaties are not based on universally valid values, but, rather, are a product of postcolonial power relations created by the Global North to maintain its power relations. He therefore accuses Western Europe, Russia, and the United States in particular, of ‘protecting their strategic interests and expanding their geopolitical and economic hegemony’, while pretending to defend and promote universally valid human rights. He supports his arguments with realpolitik observations, and illustrates the strengths and weaknesses of international law by depicting the massive infl uence of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council. According to his arguments, decisions and interventions of the Security Council are not aimed at improving the living conditions of the ‘protected’, but are instead primarily aimed at maintaining national interests. In this context, the author accuses the United States of hypocrisy when it comes to the protection of human rights by highlighting the paradox of having minimal ratification rates of human rights treaties, coupled with extensive reservations and other restrictions on the scope of the treaties, while at the same time the United States claims global leadership in this area.
A second inherent problem wiThexisting human rights frameworks is the Eurocentric theoretical concept on which they are based. The imposition of European (liberal) values, legal systems and institutions as the sole sources of human rights leads to two major implications: on the one hand, to a renewed projection of the normative authority of former colonial states, and, on the other hand, this exclusive framework protects only certain rights, namely those that follow the European narrative of liberal rights.