Equality before the law, also known as equality under the law, equality in the eyes of the
law, or legal equality, is the principle under which all people are subject to the same laws
of justice. Law also raises important and complex issues concerning equality, fairness,
and justice. There is an old saying that 'All are equal before the law.'. The author Anatole
France said in 1894, "In its majestic equality, the law forbids rich and poor alike to sleep
under bridges, beg in the streets, and steal loaves of bread." The belief in equality before
the law is called legal egalitarianism. Article 7 of the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights states that "All are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination
to equal protection of the law." According to the United Nations, this principle
is particularly important to the minorities and to the poor.
Thus, the law and the judges must treat everyone equally before the law regardless of their
race, gender, gender identity, national origin, color, ethnicity, religion, disability, or
other characteristics, without privilege, discrimination, or bias.
Equality before the law is one of the basic principles of liberalism.
History In his famous funeral oration of 431 BC, the
Athenian leader Pericles discussed this concept. This may be the first known instance.
"If we look to the laws, they afford equal justice to all in their private differences;
if no social standing, advancement in public life falls to reputation for capacity, class
considerations not being allowed to interfere with merit; nor again does poverty bar the
way"
Classical liberalism Classical liberalism calls for equality before
the law, not for equality of outcome. Classical liberalism opposes pursuing group rights at
the expense of individual rights. Feminism
Feminists call for equality before the law regardless of gender.
Still in 1988 the later supreme court justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg wrote: "Generalizations
about the way women or men are ... cannot guide me reliably in making decisions about
particular individuals". In an ACLU's s Women's Rights Project in the 1970s Ginsburg challenged
the laws that gave health service benefits to wives of servicemen but not to husbands
of servicewomen and prohibited women from certain businesses including running a bar
alone. However, some radical feminists have opposed
equality before the law, because they think that it maintains the weak position of the
weak. Nebraska
The phrase "Equality before the law" is the motto of the State of Nebraska and appears
on its state seal. Parricide law
Article 200 of the Criminal Code of Japan, the penalty regarding parricide, was declared
unconstitutional for violating the equality under the law by the Supreme Court of Japan
in 1973, as a result of the trial of the Tochigi patricide case.
See also All men are created equal
Anti-discrimination law Civil and political rights
Equal justice under law Equality of opportunity
Global justice Isonomia
Meritocracy Prerogative - the inverse of equality before
the law Right to equal protection
Rule according to higher law Rule of law
Social equality References
^ a b c 7., description of the UN declaration article 7, the United Nations
^. ^ a b Chandran Kukathas, "Ethical Pluralism
from a Classical Liberal Perspective," in The Many and the One: Religious and Secular
Perspectives on Ethical Pluralism in the Modern World, ed. Richard Madsen and Tracy B. Strong,
Ethikon Series in Comparative Ethics, 61. ^ a b Mark Evans, ed., Edinburgh Companion
to Contemporary Liberalism: Evidence and Experience, 55.
^ Thucydides, The History of the Peloponnesian War, Written 431 B.C.E, Translated by Richard
Crawley, retrieved via Project Gutenberg. ^ a b Feminist Jurisprudence: Equal Rights
or Neo-Paternalism?, Michael Weiss and Cathy Young, Policy Analysis No. 256, Cato Institute,
June 19, 1996, pages 1-2 ^ Jeff Rosen, "The Book of Ruth," New Republic,
August 2, 1993, p. 19. ^ Martha Chamallas, "Feminist Constructions
of Objectivity: Multiple Perspectives in Sexual and Racial Harassment Litigation," Texas Journal
of Women and the Law 1: 95, 131, 125. ^ Dean, Meryll. Japanese legal system. Routledge
via Google Books. p. 535 Further reading
Shenfield, Arthur A. "Equality Before the Law," Modern Age, Spring 1973.
See also International Society for Peace
List of civil rights leaders List of suffragists and suffragettes
List of women's rights activists