Same, Same but Different: Proportionality Assessments and Equality Norms

Proportionality reasoning is an established form of legal argumentation under international human rights law, employed by the European Court of Human Rights and the United Nations (UN) human rights treaty bodies alike. However, relatively little has been written about its precise role and content in...

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Main Author: Anna Nilsson
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Scandinavian University Press 2020-01-01
Series:Oslo Law Review
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Online Access:https://www.idunn.no/oslo_law_review/2020/03/same_same_but_different_proportionality_assessments_and_e
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author Anna Nilsson
author_facet Anna Nilsson
author_sort Anna Nilsson
collection DOAJ
description Proportionality reasoning is an established form of legal argumentation under international human rights law, employed by the European Court of Human Rights and the United Nations (UN) human rights treaty bodies alike. However, relatively little has been written about its precise role and content in relation to equality norms. Proportionality scholars tend to draw on other examples to demonstrate how proportionality reasoning works in practice, and legal scholarship on equality and non-discrimination has not fully explored whether or how proportionality argumentation can assist us in distinguishing lawful state practices from unlawful ones. This article picks up these loose ends and develops a model of proportionality assessment tailored to the non-discrimination context. The model breaks down proportionality argumentation into a step-by-step process and sets out clear criteria to be fulfilled at each step. It illustrates the distinctive features of balancing as a part of discrimination analysis and provides useful guidance to national authorities tasked with such balancing. It is anchored in existing non-discrimination jurisprudence but structured so as to facilitate more predictable outcomes than existing justification tests.
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spelling doaj-art-5c07b5f1284c47ff82a9f6f2513f9ed52025-08-20T03:49:03ZengScandinavian University PressOslo Law Review2387-32992020-01-01712614410.18261/ISSN.2387-3299-2020-03-0118948693Same, Same but Different: Proportionality Assessments and Equality NormsAnna NilssonProportionality reasoning is an established form of legal argumentation under international human rights law, employed by the European Court of Human Rights and the United Nations (UN) human rights treaty bodies alike. However, relatively little has been written about its precise role and content in relation to equality norms. Proportionality scholars tend to draw on other examples to demonstrate how proportionality reasoning works in practice, and legal scholarship on equality and non-discrimination has not fully explored whether or how proportionality argumentation can assist us in distinguishing lawful state practices from unlawful ones. This article picks up these loose ends and develops a model of proportionality assessment tailored to the non-discrimination context. The model breaks down proportionality argumentation into a step-by-step process and sets out clear criteria to be fulfilled at each step. It illustrates the distinctive features of balancing as a part of discrimination analysis and provides useful guidance to national authorities tasked with such balancing. It is anchored in existing non-discrimination jurisprudence but structured so as to facilitate more predictable outcomes than existing justification tests.https://www.idunn.no/oslo_law_review/2020/03/same_same_but_different_proportionality_assessments_and_eproportionalityequal treatmentnon-discriminationEuropean Convention on Human RightsRobert Alexyequaltreatment
spellingShingle Anna Nilsson
Same, Same but Different: Proportionality Assessments and Equality Norms
Oslo Law Review
proportionality
equal treatment
non-discrimination
European Convention on Human Rights
Robert Alexy
equaltreatment
title Same, Same but Different: Proportionality Assessments and Equality Norms
title_full Same, Same but Different: Proportionality Assessments and Equality Norms
title_fullStr Same, Same but Different: Proportionality Assessments and Equality Norms
title_full_unstemmed Same, Same but Different: Proportionality Assessments and Equality Norms
title_short Same, Same but Different: Proportionality Assessments and Equality Norms
title_sort same same but different proportionality assessments and equality norms
topic proportionality
equal treatment
non-discrimination
European Convention on Human Rights
Robert Alexy
equaltreatment
url https://www.idunn.no/oslo_law_review/2020/03/same_same_but_different_proportionality_assessments_and_e
work_keys_str_mv AT annanilsson samesamebutdifferentproportionalityassessmentsandequalitynorms