Rory O’Connell of Queen’s University Belfast has posted an article on the evolving role of the non-discrimination principle in the ECHR, which will appear in the forthcoming issue (2009, No. 2) of the journal Legal Studies. It is entitled ‘Cinderella Comes to the Ball: Article 14 and the Right to Non-Discrimination in the ECHR’ and can be found on SSRN. This is the abstract:
Article 14 ECHR has often been derided as a Cinderella provision, but during the last few years, this has started to change. This article examines how Article 14 has developed, and may live up to its potential as a powerful non-discrimination principle. The case law developments in relation to the “ambit” requirement in Article 14, the development of indirect discrimination case law, and the approval of positive action, all point to a more substantive conception of equality, which offers protection to disadvantaged and vulnerable groups.
Considering that another Convention provision (Article 13 – right to an effective remedy) has been compared to Sleeping Beauty, it seems that the fairy tale metophor is popular among ECHR experts…
