NAVIGATING THROUGH THE SUBSTANTIVE EQUALITY DOCTRINE: ANTI-DISCRIMINATION LAW AND SOCIAL CHANGE
Sažetak
The substantive equality doctrine is an important aspect of legal scholarship and judicial practice built around the principles of equal treatment and non-discrimination. The doctrine departs from the critique of the “formal approach to equality” and places great expectations on the legislator and the courts vis-à-vis its equality aspirations, which encompass objectives related to both redistribution and recognition. The paper examines the relationship between its basic postulates, its equality goals, and the law as its main method. The author charts the develop- mental trajectory of the doctrine, provides an overview of its premises, and an analysis of its objectives. The author concludes that the proponents of the substantive equality doctrine rightly point to deeper societal structures as the source of patterned inequalities, yet they are mistaken in their belief that the subtle and complex forms of discrimination can be effectively addressed through anti-discrimination law.
Reference
Bibliography
Albertyn, C., 2007, Substantive Equality and Transformation in South Africa, South African Journal on Human Rights, Vol. 23, No. 2, pp. 253–276.
Anagnostou, D., Gender Equality and Parity in European National Constitutions, in: Irving, H., (ed.), 2017, Constitutions and Gender, Cheltenham, Edward Elgar Publishing, pp. 268–289.
Baier, G., 2006, Courts and Federalism: Judicial Doctrine in the United States, Au- stralia, and Canada, Vancouver, UBC Press.
Baines, B., 2015, Is Substantive Equality a Constitutional Doctrine?, Queen’s Uni- versity Legal Research Paper Series, No. 2015–042, pp. 58–101.
Bell, M., 2008, Racism and Equality in the European Union, Oxford, Oxford Uni- versity Press.
Brodsky, G., Shelagh, D., 2002, Beyond the Social and Economic Rights Debate: Substantive Equality Speaks to Poverty, Canadian Journal of Women and the Law, Vol. 14, pp. 185–220.
Choudhry, S., 2000, Distribution vs. Recognition: The Case of Antidiscrimination Laws, George Mason Law Review, Vol. 9, No. 1, pp. 145–178.
Conaghan, J., 2007, Following the Path of Equality through Law: Reflections on Baker et al., Equality: From Theory to Action, Res Publica: A Journal of Legal and Social Philosophy, Vol. 13, pp. 159–170.
Davies, G., 2003, Nationality Discrimination in the European Internal Market, The Hague, Kluwer Law International.
Dworkin, R., 1986, Laws Empire, Cambridge, Harvard University Press.
Dyevre, A., The French Constitutional Council, in: Jakab, A., Dyevre, A., Itzcovich, J., (eds.), 2017, Comparative Constitutional Reasoning, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, pp. 323–355.
Easton, E. R., 1990, The Dual Role of the Structural Injunction, Yale Law Journal, Vol. 99, pp. 1983–2002.
Fiss, M. O., 1979, The Forms of Justice, Harvard Law Review, Vol. 93, No. 1, pp. 1–58.
Fiss, M. O., 1993, The Allure of Individualism, Iowa Law Review, Vol. 78, pp. 965–979.
Fiss, M. O., 2004, Another Equality, Issues in Legal Scholarship (Symposium: The Origins and Fate of Antisubordination Theory), pp. 1–25.
Forbath, E. W., 2001, Constitutional Welfare Rights: A History, Critique and Reconstruction, Fordham Law Review, Vol. 69, No. 5, pp. 1821–1891.
France, A., 1910, The Red Lily, New York, Current Literature Publishing Company.
Fraser, N., 1995, From Redistribution to Recognition? Dilemmas of Justice in a “Post-Socialist” Age, New Left Review, 212, pp. 68–93.
Fraser, N., 1997, Justice Interruptus: Critical Reflections on the “Post-Socialist” Condition, Routledge, pp. 15–39.
Fredman, S., 2007, Redistribution and Recognition: Reconciling Inequalities, South African Journal on Human Rights, Vol. 23, No. 2, pp. 214–234.
Fredman, S., 2011, Discrimination Law, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2nd edition.
Fredman, S., 2012, Breaking the Mold: Equality as a Proactive Duty, American Journal of Comparative Law, Vol. 60, No. 1, pp. 265–287.
Fredman, S., 2016, Substantive Equality Revisited, International Journal of Constitutional Law, Vol. 14, No. 3, pp. 712–738.
Fredman, S., 2005, Providing Equality: Substantive Equality and the Positive Duty to Provide, South African Journal on Human Rights, Vol. 21, No. 2, pp. 163–190.
Gajin, S., 2021, Zakon o zabrani diskriminacije: prvih dvanaest godina (Vol. I), Belgrade, Centar za unapređivanje pravnih studija – Pravni fakultet Univerziteta Union.
Gilles, M., 2003, An Autopsy of the Structural Reform Injunction: Oops ... It’s Still Moving!, University of Miami Law Review, Vol. 58, No. 1, pp. 143–171.
Gold, M., 1989, Comment: Andrews v. Law Society of British Columbia, McGill Law Journal, Vol. 34, pp. 1063–1064.
Gynther, P., 2007, Beyond Systemic Discrimination: Educational Rights, Skills Acquisition and the Case of Roma, Leiden, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers.
Hankivsky, O., 2004, Social Policy and the Ethic of Care, Vancouver, University of British Columbia Press.
Hepple, B., 2006, The European Legacy of Brown v. Board of Education, Univer- sity of Illinois Law Review, No. 3, pp. 605–624.
Hepple, B., Can Discrimination Ever Be Fair?, in: Malherbe, K., Sloth-Nielsen, J., (eds.), 2012, Labour Law into the Future: Essays in honour of D’Arcy du Toit, Cape Town, University of the Western Cape, pp. 1–17.
Khaitan, T., 2015, A Theory of Discrimination Law, Oxford, Oxford University Press.
Khaitan, T., Prelude to a Theory of Discrimination Law, in: Hellman, D., More- au, S., (eds.), 2013, Philosophical Foundations of Antidiscrimination Law, Oxford, Oxford University Press, pp. 138–162.
Khanna, V., 2022, Indirect Discrimination and Substantive Equality in Nitisha: Easier Said than Done under Indian Constitutional Jurisprudence, International Journal of Discrimination and the Law, Vol. 22, No. 1, pp. 74–86.
Kibet, E., Fombad, C., 2017, Transformative Constitutionalism and the Adjudica- tion of Constitutional Rights in Africa, African Human Rights Law Journal, Vol. 17, No. 2, pp. 340–366.
Langa, P., 2006, Transformative Constitutionalism, Stellenbosch Law Review, Vol. 17, pp. 351–360.
Loper, K., 2011, Substantive Equality in International Human Rights Law and Its Relevance for the Resolution of Tibetan Autonomy Claims, North Carolina Journal of International Law and Commercial Regulation, Vol. 37, No. 1, pp. 1–46.
Nikolaidis, C., 2015, The Right to Equality in European Human Rights Law: The Quest for Substance in the Jurisprudence of the European Courts, London, Routledge.
MacKinnon, A. C., 2011, Substantive Equality: A Perspective, Minnesota Law Review, Vol. 96, pp. 1–27.
MacKinnon, A. C., 2016, Substantive Equality Revisited: A Reply to Sandra Fredman, International Journal of Constitutional Law, Vol. 14, No. 3, pp. 739–746.
Marinković, T., Pravna i suštinska jednakost − konceptualna razgraničenja, in: Petrušić, N., (ed.), 2012, Sudska građanskopravna zaštita od diskriminacije, Belgrade, Poverenik za zaštitu ravnopravnosti – Pravosudna akademija, pp. 39–46.
Matijević, V. M., Some Critical Reflections on the Broad Human Rights Constitutionalisation, in: Nikolić, O., Čolović, V., (eds.), 2021, Constitutio Lex Superioris: In memoriam of Professor Pavle Nikolić, Belgrade, Institute of Comparative Law, pp. 155–172.
McHugh, C., 2006, The Equality Principle in E.U. Law: Taking a Human Rights Approach?, Irish Student Law Review, Vol. 14, pp. 31–59.
Mjöll Arnardóttir, O., 2017, Vulnerability under Article 14 of the European Convention on Human Rights: Innovation or Business as Usual?, Oslo Law Review, Vol. 4, No. 3, pp. 150–171.
Mitchell, B., 2015, Process Equality, Substantive Equality and Recognising Disadvantage in Constitutional Equality Law, Irish Jurist, Vol. 53, pp. 36–57.
O’Connell, R., 2009, Substantive Equality in the European Court of Human Rights?, Michigan Law Review First Impressions, Vol. 107, pp. 129–133.
Oswick, C., The Social Construction of Diversity, Equality and Inclusion, in: Healy, G., Kirton, G., Noon, M., (eds.), 2011, Equality, Inequalities and Diversity, London, Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 18–36.
Piketty, T., 2014, Capital in the Twenty-First Century, Cambridge, The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.
Prechal, S., 2004, Equality of Treatment, Non-Discrimination and Social Policy: Achievements in Three Themes, Common Market Law Review, Vol. 41, No. 2, pp. 533–552.
Rosenfeld, M., 1986, Substantive Equality and Equal Opportunity: A Jurisprudential Appraisal, California Law Review, Vol. 74, No. 5, pp. 1687–1712.
Ross, A., 2004, On Law and Justice, Clark, The Lawbook Exchange (originally published: Berkeley, University of California Press, 1959).
Sadurski, W., 1984, Social Justice and Legal Justice, Law and Philosophy, Vol. 3, No. 3, pp. 329–354.
Schiek, D., Waddington, L., Bell, M., Introductory Chapter: A Comparative Perspective on Non-Discrimination Law, in: Schiek, D., Waddington, L., Bell, M., (eds.), 2007, Cases, Materials and Text on National, Supranational and International Non-Discrimination Law, Oxford, Hart Publishing, pp. 11–30.
Squires, J., 2007, New Politics of Gender Equality, Basingstoke, Palgrave.
Smith, N., 2007, A Critique of Recent Approaches to Discrimination Law, New Zealand Law Review, 3, pp. 499–525.
Smith, A., 2014, Equality Constitutional Adjudication in South Africa, African Human Rights Law Journal, Vol. 14, No. 2, pp. 609–632.
Stancil, P., 2017, Substantive Equality and Procedural Justice, Iowa Law Review, Vol. 102, No. 4, pp. 1633–1689.
Sturm, S., 2001, Second Generation Employment Discrimination: A Structural Approach, Columbia Law Review, Vol. 101, No. 3, pp. 458–568.
Sturm, S., 2003, Equality and the Forms of Justice, University of Miami Law Review, Vol. 58, No. 1, pp. 51–82.
Suk, C. J., 2013, Gender Quotas after the End of Men, Boston University Law Review, Vol. 93, pp. 1123–1140.
Tremblay, L. B., 2012, Promoting Equality and Combating Discrimination through Affirmative Action: The Same Challenge − Questioning the Canadian Sub- stantive Equality Paradigm, American Journal of Comparative Law, Vol. 60, pp. 181–204.
Vasiljević, S., Intersectional Discrimination: Difficulties in the Implementation of a European Norm, in: Prügl, E., Thiel, M., (eds.), 2009, Diversity in the European Union, London, Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 169–182.
Vos, P. de, Transformative Justice: Social and Economic Rights in South Africa’s Constitution, in: Auweraert, P. van der, et al. (eds.), 2002, Social, Economic and Cultural Rights: An Appraisal of Current European and International Deve- lopments, Antwerp, Maklu Publishers, pp. 243–262.
Vos, M. de, 2020, The European Court of Justice and the March Towards Substantive Equality in European Union Anti-Discrimination Law, International Journal of Discrimination and the Law, Vol. 20, No. 1, pp. 62–87.
West, R., 1990, The Meaning of Equality and the Interpretive Turn, Chicago-Kent Law Review, Vol. 66, No. 2, pp. 451–480.
Williams, M., In Defence of Affirmative Action: North American Discourses for the European Context?, in: Appelt, E., Jarosch, M., (eds.), 2000, Combating Racial Discrimination: Affirmative Action as a Model for Europe, Oxford, Berg, pp. 61–80.
Wiseman, D., 2015, The Past and Future of Constitutional Law and Social Justice: Majestic or Substantive Equality?, Supreme Court Law Review: Osgoode’s Annual Constitutional Cases Conference, Vol. 71, pp. 563–605.
Yap, P., 2005, Four Models of Equality, Loyola of Los Angeles International and Comparative Law Review, Vol. 27, No. 1, pp. 63–100.
Young, I. M., 1990, Justice and the Politics of Difference, Princeton University Press, pp. 15–18.
Young, I. M., 2001, Equality of Whom? Social Groups and Judgments of Injustice, Journal of Political Philosophy, Vol. 9, No. 1, pp. 1–18.
Legislative Sources
Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, Part 1 of the Constitution Act, 1982,
being Schedule B to the Canada Act (1982).
Equal Treatment Act of the Kingdom of the Netherlands (Algemene wet gelijke behandeling (Staatsblad 1994, 230)).
Federal Equal Treatment Act of the Republic of Austria (Bundes-Gleichbehand- lungsgesetz (BGBl. Nr. 100/1993)).
General Equal Treatment Act of the Federal Republic of Germany (Allgemeines Gleichbehandlungsgesetz (BGBl. I S. 1897)).
Law on the Prohibition of Discrimination of the Republic of Serbia (Zakon o zabrani diskriminacije Republike Srbije (Official Gazette of the RS, Nos. 22/2009 and 52/2021)).
Law on Modernization of the 21st Century Justice No. 1547 of 18 November 2016 (Loi no. 2016–1547 du 18 novembre 2016 de modernisation de la justice du XXIe siècle (Journal officiel “Lois et Décrets” no. 0269)).
Protocol No. 12 to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fun- damental Freedoms (Rome, 4 Nov. 2000), E.T.S. 177, entered into force 1 April 2005.
Constitution of the United States, 14th Amendment, Section 2.
Case Law
Action Travail des Femmes v. Canadian National Railway Company (1987 1 S.C.R. 1114).
Andrews v. The Law Society of British Columbia (1989 1 S.C.R. 143).
Andrews v. The Law Society of British Columbia (1989 1 S.C.R. 143), Factum of the Intervener, Women’s Legal Education and Action Fund Inc. (LEAF).
Brink v. Kitshoff (1996 (6) BCLR 752 (CC)).
Commission of the European Communities v. French Republic, Judgment of 25 Oc- tober 1988, Case C-312/86.
D. H. and Others v. Czech Republic, no. 57325/00, Judgment of 7 February 2006.
Eldridge v. British Columbia (1997 S.C.R. 624).
Hugo v. President of the Republic of South Africa and Another (1997 ZACC 4; 1997 (6) BCLR 708 (CC); 1997 (4) SA 1 (CC)).
Joseph Griesmar v. Ministre de l’Economie, des Finances et de l’Industrie and Minis- tre de la Fonction publique, de la Réforme de l’Etat et de la Décentralisation, Judg- ment of 29 November 2001, Case C-366/99.
Lieutenant Colonel Nitisha and Others v. Union of India and Others, Writ Petition (Civil) No. 1109/2020 (Decided 25 March 2021).
Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School District (551 U.S. 701 (2007)).
Ricci v. De Stefano (557 U.S. 557 (2009)).
Katarina Abrahamsson and Leif Anderson v. Elisabet Fogelqvist, Judgment of 6 July 2000, Case C-407/98.
Van Heerden v. Minister of Finance (2004 11BCLR 1125 (CC)).
Withler v. Canada (2011 1 S.C.R. 396).
UN Documents
UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, General Comment No. 16: The Equal Right of Men and Women to the Enjoyment of All Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (Art. 3 of the Covenant), UN doc. E/C.12/2005/4 (11 August 2005).
UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, General Comment No. 20: Non-discrimination in economic, social and cultural rights (Art. 2, para. 2, of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights), UN doc. E/C.12/GC/20 (2 July 2009).
UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women, General Recommendation No. 25: On Article 4, para. 1, of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, on temporary special measures, UN doc. No. HRI/GEN/1/Rev.7. (18 August 2004).
Other Sources
Abella, S. R., 1984, Equality and Employment: Report of the Royal Commission on Equality in Employment, Ministry of Supply and Services of Canada.
European Commission, 2009, International Perspectives on Positive Action Measures: A Comparative Analysis in the European Union, Canada, the United States and South Africa, Luxembourg, Office for Official Publications of the European Communities.
Hershkoff, H., 2005, Public Interest Litigation: Selected Examples, World Bank (on file with the author).
Fredman, S., Goldblatt, B., 2014, Gender Equality and Human Rights, UN Women Discussion Paper Series.
McCrudden, C., Prechal, S., 2011, The Concepts of Equality and Non-Discrimination in Europe: A Practical Approach, European Commission, Luxembourg, Office for Official Publications of the European Communities.
Vos, M. de, 2007, Beyond Formal Equality: Positive Action Under Directives 2000/43/EC and 2000/78/EC European Commission, Luxembourg, Office for Official Publications of the European Communities.
Internet sources
West Coast LEAF, 2023, Equality Law for Social Change, (http://www.westcoastleaf.org/our-workshop/equality-law-social-change/, 12. 1. 2024).
Lamont J., Favor C., Distributive Justice, in: Zalta, E. N., Nodelman, U., (eds.), 2017, The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Winter 2017 Edition), (https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/justice-distributive/, 22. 4. 2024).