International Journal of Discrimination and the Law

Around the world, so-called migration crises often mask severe human rights violations resulting from domestic laws and border securitisation policies. Abuses occur along numerous routes taken by migrants and refugees. This article argues that these routes, as well as the laws and policies governing them, require greater scrutiny to understand their impact on those seeking refuge. In this context, this qualitative research paper focuses on Israel and combines an analysis of existing theoretical literature with an empirical approach. Drawing on fieldwork conducted in Israel, the article examines the intersectional impact of the Israeli legal framework. It argues that the law is a colonial legacy that perpetuates the exclusion of individuals based on their identity. Furthermore, it promotes the economic marginalisation of African refugees by relying on outdated narratives that falsely define them as ‘infiltrators’ and deem their asylum claims illegitimate. This framework reflects a broader legacy of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Therefore, the study contends that decolonising the legal system is essential. The law, along with its intersectional effects, has led to the racialised and gendered exclusion of African refugees from refugee status determination procedure and from Israel’s economic life. As a result, many are pushed to the social and spatial margins of Israeli society, particularly in the city of Tel Aviv, where a large number reside.

The pursuit of global sustainability remains incomplete without confronting racial discrimination, a structural barrier that continues to shape access to resources, justice, and environmental security. From the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the current global development agenda, no framework has established a specific goal dedicated to eliminating racial discrimination. This omission has allowed systemic inequities to persist within efforts aimed at poverty reduction, climate action, and sustainable resource management. For instance, environmental initiatives under SDG 13 on Climate Action often fail to protect marginalised racial and ethnic communities who disproportionately bear the burdens of pollution, displacement, and resource depletion. Although the United Nations has taken important steps through the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD) and the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD), these mechanisms rely on national political will, consistent reporting, and voluntary compliance, resulting in uneven enforcement and limited global accountability. To achieve meaningful and equitable progress, the principles of ICERD must be integrated more effectively into the international development framework. This review examines the socio-economic and environmental costs of racial discrimination, analyses its intersection with existing global goals, and highlights regional disparities in access to justice. To be more specific, this review argues that a world free of racial discrimination must be established as a standalone development goal, a critical oversight in both the MDGs and the current SDGs, which future global development frameworks must not repeat. It concludes that eradicating racial discrimination must become a central, measurable commitment of the global development agenda, ensuring that sustainability and equality advance hand in hand.

This article explores two potential forms of institutional ageism within Norwegian General Practitioner (GP) services for older adults experiencing mental health and substance abuse challenges. Despite recent legislative developments - including anti-discrimination laws that prohibit age-based discrimination in healthcare - transformation appears to be unfolding in services for the population. Drawing on interviews with 17 systems-level stakeholders, this study examines their perceptions of potential institutional ageism in Norwegian GP services, their roles in addressing it, and the possibilities for legal recognition and intervention. Rather than offering a legal analysis, the article presents a sociological inquiry into cultural beliefs that may shape the interpretation and implementation of legislation. It identifies a web of underlying beliefs that inform stakeholders’ views and may contribute to systemic inertia. The findings suggest, that unless these beliefs are critically examined and challenged, legislation may fail to prevent institutional ageism and instead risk legitimizing inaction amid broader welfare state transformation.

It is no exaggeration to say that if a person believing themselves the victim of discrimination were to bear the full burden of proof for that claim in court, the right to equal treatment would be largely illusory. Recognising this, EU law stipulates that the claimant in discrimination cases need only to establish a prima facie case, whereafter the burden of proof shifts to the respondent. Yet, the implications of this rule remains unclear in several key aspects, including what constitutes a prima facie case. Conceptually grounded in civil procedure and specifically evidence law doctrine, this article seeks to establish the precise allocation of the burden of proof between the parties under EU law. It argues that the claimant’s prima facie case must contain evidence for three out of the four basic components of discrimination, but does not need to include positive indications of a causal relationship between the discrimination ground and the discriminatory treatment. This interpretation is compatible with the Court of Justice’s jurisprudence and consistent with evidence law debate in several European legal traditions. It also promotes effective enforcement by offering a higher level of protection to the discrimination victim than the most credible alternative.

The contribution analyses what kind of discrimination in fact arises from a corporate neutrality policy, which bans the visible wearing of any political, philosophical or religious sign in the private workplace, with regard to women employees wearing Islamic headscarf. It is argued with legal grounds, though against the CJEU’s established case-law, that such a corporate neutrality policy indeed constitutes for employees following of orthopraxis religions less favourable treatment and so direct discrimination on the ground of religion.

This article examines Sasi, a customary governance regime in Central Maluku, Indonesia, that regulates access to terrestrial and marine resources through ritualized closures and openings. While celebrated as cultural heritage and conservation practice, the authority of Sasi remains fragile. Drawing on literature review, field mapping of 44 Negeri (customary villages) and a qualitative multi-scalar case study design guided by a critical-interpretive approach, the study finds that Sasi is constrained by two layers of discrimination. Externally, its recognition is conditional, subject to constitutional clauses, statutory provisions, and spatial planning policies that privilege state permits over local prohibitions. Internally, Sasi institutions reproduce inequalities, through male-dominated decision-making structures and auction-based arrangements that benefit elites while excluding women and poorer households. An integrated typology reveals the variability of Sasi: strongholds that remain effective, religious–legal hybrids dependent on clerical legitimacy, marketised forms prone to elite capture, and institutional vacuums where governance collapses. These findings show that indigenous governance recognition in Indonesia often affirms Sasi symbolically while undermining its substantive authority. The paper conceptualises this paradox as discriminatory legal pluralism, a condition where plural recognition preserves cultural visibility yet reproduces structural subordination, limiting the potential of living law for juridical equality and sustainable commons governance.

The role of commodities including clothing in realising equality in practice is well established in developmental economy literature, via the Commodities and Capabilities Approach advanced by Sen and Nussbaum. However, disability is under-considered in the current literature. Whilst it is possible for people with disabilities to purchase clothing, garments that fit their particular bodies and/or access needs are missing from the high street. This highlights a fundamental disconnect in the disability equality framework in Britain. Although service providers must make reasonable adjustments to ensure access to services, there is no such requirement for physical products to be accessible. Lack of access to a variety of clothing inhibits the ability of people with disabilities to present themselves and their capabilities to others, which in turn limits their ability to challenge stereotypes and negative attitudes. Consequently, this limits their ability to engage with a number of their wider social, cultural and economic rights in practice. This article proposes applying a Commodities and Capabilities Approach lens in the context of disability to demonstrate the importance of commodities beyond their mere existence in revealing, maintaining, or challenging barriers to access and equality beyond the pages of legislation.

In 2025, Singapore’s first anti-discrimination law, the Workplace Fairness Act (WFA), was enacted after decades of resistance against the use of legislation by the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP). This was a rare policy u-turn by a technocratic government well known for its long-term strategic policymaking. Informed by interest convergence theory, this article argues that the WFA was enacted primarily not because of a new-found political commitment to the principle of equality but because of the PAP’s misappropriation of the language of discrimination in response to an increasingly anti-immigration electorate. Given Singapore’s reliance on open flows of capital, trade and labour, the PAP shifted the discursive frame from its liberal immigration policies to labour protectionism disguised as anti-discrimination to balance between its electoral objectives and the country’s economic development. As a result, the WFA is not only narrowly drafted in terms of the protected characteristics and the types of proscribed conduct but also ironically enshrines discriminatory treatment on the basis of nationality against non-resident workers. Theoretically, this case study reveals the slippery foundations of the legal concept of discrimination and the risk that it may result in the entrenchment, rather than eradication, of inequality at the workplace and beyond.

Ensuring gender equality in property rights is vital to addressing gender-based discrimination, which often appears indirectly through deeply rooted stereotypes. While laws may seem neutral, they often fail to address underlying inequalities. These issues become more severe during crises and emergencies, which can deepen existing disparities. This paper examines Albania’s legislative and institutional responses to gender equality in property rights, focusing on two major crises: the urban crisis caused by illegal construction and the 2019 post-earthquake recovery. Using anti-discrimination principles as a framework, the study identifies gaps in legal protections and enforcement that allow indirect gender discrimination to persist. It argues for stronger, gender-sensitive policies and practices that address immediate challenges during crises while building a foundation for long-term equality in property rights.

According to long-standing case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), recently confirmed in Melbán and Sergamo, specific advantages for women in pension systems are prohibited. These advantages are usually aimed at compensating for the difficulties women experienced during their past professional life, mostly associated to their caring role. The Court’s position is very controversial since it entails prolonging the inequalities women have suffered in their professional careers into the retirement period. This article challenges the CJEU’s case law, bringing to the table some observations about the neglected but crucial differentiation between direct and indirect positive action, a new legal approach to accept in abstracto positive action after retirement, in line with the case law of the European Court of Human Rights, and an analysis of how the proportionality test could look like. It proposes that, rather than prohibiting positive action upfront, the CJEU should analyse in concreto whether each measure complies with the principle of proportionality.

The criminalisation of same-sex relations in Africa remains a critical human rights concern, reinforced by legislative frameworks that entrench discrimination, social exclusion, and violence against LGBTQ + persons. This article critically examines the human rights implications of criminalising same-sex relations in Uganda, Nigeria, Tanzania, and Ghana, focusing on recent legislative, judicial, and enforcement trends in these jurisdictions. Using a doctrinal and comparative human rights approach, the study analyses constitutions, penal codes, special legislation, parliamentary bills, and case law. The article finds that criminalisation operates less through formal prosecutions and more through police harassment, administrative repression, and legitimised private violence, producing everyday conditions of fear, precarity, and exclusion. It further finds that variations in enforcement and legislative severity are shaped by political incentives, religious mobilisation, and institutional strength, rather than by legal texts alone. The study demonstrates that criminalisation systematically violates rights to dignity, equality, privacy, expression, and access to health, while disproportionately harming already marginalised groups, including transgender and economically vulnerable persons. The article contributes a comparative, enforcement-focused human rights analysis and identifies context-sensitive pathways for reform grounded in strategic litigation, civil society mobilisation, and regional human rights mechanisms. It argues that decriminalisation is both a legal and institutional possibility under identifiable political and judicial conditions.

In Brazil, anti-discrimination law has evolved under the 1988 Constitution creating positive obligations for the state to benefit historically discriminated groups. This article discusses the characteristics of this substantive and asymmetrical approach to anti-discrimination law, especially regarding the adoption of affirmative action policies against racial discrimination. After studying the constitutional and legal provisions that create positive obligations for the state to combat discrimination and reduce inequalities based on protected characteristics, the article develops a case study on the implementation of racial quotas in higher education, public service, and elections, focusing on the role played by the Federal Supreme Court in sustaining and expanding these affirmative action policies. Finally, the article provides empirical data on the effectiveness of these racial quotas and explores three factors that help to explain their different impact: the level of political agreement regarding each policy, the operation of monitoring mechanisms, and the characteristics of the benefited group.

Bangladesh’s 2024 July Revolution, also referred to as the Anti-Discrimination Movement or July Uprising, followed the Supreme Court’s reinstatement of a quota system allocating 56% of public-sector jobs, including 30% for descendants of freedom fighters, about 10% for women, about 10% for district-based allocation, 5% for indigenous communities, and 1% for people with disabilities. Protests spread rapidly, led primarily by students and young professionals, and were met with curfews, mass arrests, internet shutdowns, and live ammunition. Domestic monitoring confirmed 819 deaths, while a later United Nations assessment estimated as many as 1,400, suggesting that the national toll likely exceeded contemporaneous counts. Drawing on human rights reporting, news sources, and eyewitness accounts, this article analyzes fatalities by age, occupation, cause, and region, and examines how youth leadership, martyrdom narratives, and media coverage shaped public sentiment. Percentage estimates refer to confirmed cases during the study period, while the later United Nations estimate is noted to contextualize scope. The findings clarify who was most at risk and where and when lethal force clustered, and they situate these patterns within debates on protest policing and accountability during a period that culminated in the resignation of then Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. The article contributes to scholarship on protest movements and outlines implications for institutional reform in Bangladesh.

This case note examines the Supreme Court’s decision in State of Punjab v Davinder Singh (1 August 2024), which reconsidered the constitutional validity of internal differentiation within Scheduled Caste (SC) reservations in India. India’s reservation policy, a constitutionally recognised form of affirmative action designed to address historical caste-based exclusion, has traditionally treated SCs as a homogeneous category. The Court held that sub-classification within SCs is constitutionally permissible to ensure a more equitable distribution of reservation benefits. The judgment, therefore, marks a shift from a model of formal equality towards a more substantive and differentiated understanding of equality. This case note analyses the implications of the decision for two competing approaches to internal reform: creamy-layer exclusion and sub-categorisation. Creamy layer refers to relatively advanced sections within a backward class that may be excluded from reservation benefits so that such benefits reach the most disadvantaged groups. The note argues that although the judgment acknowledges intra-group inequality, it leaves unresolved tensions between income-based targeting and the continuing structural nature of caste-based disadvantage. The decision consequently raises important questions regarding the future design, justification, and implementation of affirmative action policy in India.

Accessibility is a fundamental tenet of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (‘CRPD’). By mandating the removal of accessibility barriers in the physical environment and the dismantling of structural forces that perpetuate inaccessibility, the CRPD seeks to foster the inclusion and participation of people with disabilities in society. Yet, despite the robust accessibility standards of the CRPD, accessibility has been largely overlooked in the disability jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights (‘ECtHR’). This article critically analyses the absence of accessibility in ECtHR jurisprudence from a structural perspective. It contends that only by framing accessibility as a structural issue can we meaningfully engage with the lack of accessibility for people with disabilities. The article develops a conceptual framework of structural ableism and argues that the recognition and application of that framework is essential for the ECtHR to acknowledge the structural forces that create and sustain physical inaccessibility for people with disabilities. This would enable the Court to align more closely with the CRPD’s accessibility standards. The study concludes by proposing four fundamental steps to bridge the current gulf between the CRPD standard on accessibility and the ECtHR jurisprudence.

This case note analyses the recent Supreme Court decision in Amar Jain v. Union of India (2025). For the first time, the Court recognized digital accessibility as an enforceable constitutional right grounded in the right to life and personal liberty. It held that exclusion of persons wih disabilities from essential services through digital systems such as biometric or OTP-based eKYC constitutes a violation of constitutional rights. While the judgment marks a significant shift in Indian disability jurisprudence, this note argues that it falls short of fully operationalizing a substantive equality framework. The Court engaged only briefly with structural discrimination. It did not address whether constitutional obligations extend to private actors performing public functions. Nor did it articulate clear doctrinal standards for assessing digital exclusion. These gaps raise concerns about enforceability. This note reflects on those gaps and calls for an equality-driven approach to digital rights cases. Such an approach embeds accessibility within the constitutional commitment to substantive equality.

Access to justice promotes the achievement of sustainable development as it promotes the participation of citizens of a country, reduces poverty, increases the productivity of persons and strengthens the peace and development of nations. In Nigeria, however, most women are deprived of justice in several ways. Using the doctrinal method of study, this article examines the concept of access to justice and its importance to the achievement of sustainable development in Nigeria. Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) five and 16 are discussed as well as the various ways in which women are deprived of justice and barriers to such access. The study discovers that women have limited access to justice as a result of challenges plaguing Nigeria’s justice system. The study concludes that urgent steps must be taken to solve these challenges so that the SDGs will stand a better chance of being achieved by 2030.

The article puts forward a novel democratic framework to rethink the relationships between religious freedom and religious discrimination. First, it makes a case for a unifying normative basis for all religious interests grounded in a democratic framework, which emphasises the dual dimension of religious interests, both as negative rights protecting individual autonomy against interferences as well as positive rights of participation. Second, it builds upon this democratic framework to revisit the relationships between discrimination law and religious freedom and guard against trends to subject discrimination law claims to preliminary (higher) thresholds. Third, the article examines how contextual balancing exercises between competing interests should (and to a large extent have) become a key unifying feature of both routes and draws from the democratic framework insights as to how these balancing exercises should be carried out.