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Equality's Guardians

How Courts Conceptualize Equal Protection and Non-Discrimination Guarantees

Niels Petersen (Professor of Public Law, Professor of Public Law, University of Munster)

$237.95

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English
Oxford University Press
11 July 2025
Equality's Guardians offers an unparalleled comparative analysis of constitutional equality case law from apex courts across 18 jurisdictions worldwide, including key international human rights treaties. This groundbreaking book aims to map various courts' diverse equality case law, revealing a richer comparative picture than the commonly discussed non-discrimination model prevalent in common law jurisdictions. By identifying four distinct models of equality, the book classifies each jurisdiction based on the level of deference courts grant to the legislature.

The second aim of Equality's Guardians is to delve into the reasons behind courts' choices of specific equality models. Rather than providing a uniform answer, the analysis uncovers a range of cultural and institutional factors influencing these decisions. This nuanced approach highlights that the models of equality must be understood within the unique institutional and cultural contexts of each jurisdiction.

Ultimately, Equality's Guardians: How Courts Conceptualize Equal Protection and Non-Discrimination Guarantees challenges the notion of a one-size-fits-all approach to equality. It emphasizes that the identified models are not to be normatively ranked but appreciated as products of their specific environments. This comprehensive study is essential for anyone interested in the complexities of constitutional equality and the varied ways it is interpreted and applied around the world. This is an open access title available under the terms of a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 International licence. It is free to read on Oxford Scholarship Online and offered as a free PDF download from OUP and selected open access locations.
Edited by:  
Imprint:   Oxford University Press
Country of Publication:   United Kingdom
Dimensions:   Height: 240mm,  Width: 165mm,  Spine: 25mm
Weight:   657g
ISBN:   9780198961093
ISBN 10:   019896109X
Pages:   336
Publication Date:  
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Undergraduate
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
1: Niels Petersen: Mapping Equality Case Law Around the World-Conceptual Preliminaries 2: Niels Petersen: United States 3: Niels Petersen: Canada 4: Jasmin Beck: European Court of Human Rights 5: Niels Petersen: European Union 6: Niels Petersen: United Kingdom 7: Niels Petersen: Germany 8: Joanna Mrozi'nska: France 9: Joanna Mrozi'nska: Poland 10: Tainá Garcia Maia: Inter-American Court of Human Rights 11: Tainá Garcia Maia: Colombia 12: Tainá Garcia Maia: Brazil 13: Shubhangi Roy: India 14: Niels Petersen: Singapore 15: Wei-Ju Huang: Taiwan 16: Niels Petersen: New Zealand 17: Helina Stiphanos Teka: African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights 18: Helina Stiphanos Teka: South Africa 19: Niels Petersen: UN Human Rights Committee 20: Niels Petersen: The Diversity of Judicial Conceptions of Equality

Niels Petersen is Professor of Public Law, International Law, and EU Law at the University of Münster. He holds an MA in Quantitative Methods from Columbia University and a PhD in Law from Goethe University in Frankfurt. His research focuses on comparative constitutional law, constitutional rights and international human rights, constitutional theory, and the use of social science methods in legal research. He is the author of the book Proportionality and Judicial Activism (2017) and was the Principal Investigator of the ERC Consolidator Grant project

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