Using Irish case law a starting point, the paper argues the principle of certainty is relevant in the context of hate crime in three key ways. First, in the context of the legislative definition of protected characteristics (i.e. does reference to “race“ in a statutory provision, for example, include bias articulated against the national origin...
Tag: <span>TUESDAY JUNE 26 2018 9:00 AM – 10:30 AM</span>
Unconstitutional constitutional amendments: can a strong judicial review avoid abusive constitutionalism?
The Brazilian Constitution is perhaps one of the few Constitutions in the World that brings in its role of immutable clauses a larger and more restrictive nucleus of the Power of reform. If on the one hand this limitation may be seem as undemocratic, it can be justified in order to avoid an abuse in...
Transforming EU Equality Law: On Disruptive Narratives and False Dichotomies
The adoption of the Race Equality Directive (2000/43/EC), the Framework Directive (2000/78/EC) and the Gender Directive on goods and services (2004/113/EC) radically transformed the landscape of EU non-discrimination law. From a means to advance market integration, non-discrimination law is said to have evolved towards a genuine fundamental right of equality. Yet, the CJEU‘s efforts to...
Three Good Reasons Why Universal Human Rights Are Not The Same Everywhere
Human rights claim to be universal, yet different human and constitutional rights instruments contain different lists and even when the same rights are recognized in the abstract they are often interpreted differently across jurisdictions. I will argue that this variance of human rights practice across regimes and jurisdictions does not undermine the idea of the...
Towards a Judicial Analysis Focused on the Effects of the Adverse Treatment: What Implications for Anti-Discrimination Law?
The courts have originally approached discrimination through its purest and cleanest manifestation, as an intentional act, intended to adversely treat a person or a group, resentfully considered because of the assignment of a protected characteristic. While the perception of discrimination by judges has considerably evolved in a few decades, new forms of discrimination are frequently...
The Sovereigntist Challenge – Backlash to International Institutions and Public Law Theories
Since the end of the cold war the proliferation of international institutions and courts have strengthened the rule of law at the international level. Today, however even liberal-democratic states question the liberal internationalism on which the international legal system has been based. I argue that the United States, South Africa and India justify the exit...
Who will protect social rights in times of economic crisis? Exploring the legal parameters of judicial intervention in Brazilian public policies
Are the courts able to defend social rights against the will of the majority powers in times of economic crisis? The legal literature affirms the role of the Judiciary as the guardian of the Constitution and consequently, guarantor of these rights against Government‘s choices. In contrast, empirical studies show that, in analyzing the preferences of...