The principle of equality before the law in International Law

Abstract

The principle of equality before the law is one of the main cores of international law. This text explores the historical evolution of this principle and the interpretation of the rights of equality before the law and equal protection of the law, and their relation to non-discrimination, particularly in the field of international human rights law. The study explores the work, legal advancements and paradigmatic juri­sprudence by UN and regional human rights bodies in the development of the principle of equality before the law and its correlated rights. At the same time, it reflects on certain challenges to equality before the law, both in its factual and its legal dimension, that remain in contemporary global reality.