Abstract
The International Bar Association resolution on non-discrimination in legal practice represents an important first step in the incorporation of human rights norms and principles, particularly as they relate to discrimination, into the working life of lawyers. It is not a legally binding document, but nevertheless is of the highest ethical significance. Based on international human rights instruments, it necessarily imports into its terms and concepts both the best and the worst aspects of those instruments. It nevertheless represents an expansion in some areas (such as with respect to harassment and sexuality) and makes it clear where responsibility for the promotion and enforcement of these principles lies. In this regard, it may be an important first step in the transformation of the so-called “soft law” of human rights into a firmer enforceable domestic version by ultimately requiring the link to be drawn between malpractice and human rights.
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