Editorial Summer 2022
| Author | Grace James,Nicole Busby |
| DOI | 10.1177/13582291221102380 |
| Published date | 01 June 2022 |
| Date | 01 June 2022 |
| Subject Matter | Editorial |
Editorial
International Journal of
Discrimination and the Law
2022, Vol. 22(2) 105–106
© The Author(s) 2022
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DOI: 10.1177/13582291221102380
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Editorial Summer 2022
We welcome you to this issue of the International Journal of Discrimination and the Law
in which we are delighted to present an array of articles covering several jurisdiction s, all
of which offer excellent analyses of recent developments in discrimination law.
In her article ‘Hong Kong’s sex discrimination ordinance at twenty-five: Achieve-
ments, legislative change and continuing challenges’Amy Barrow provides an insightful
analysis of Hong Kong’s progress in relation to gender equality law. As this analysis
highlights, a lack of litigated cases on sex discrimination, sexual harassment and
pregnancy discrimination is preventing the development of law in areas of great im-
portance including employment and the provision of goods and services. The author
concludes that despite the symbolism of the sex discrimination ordinance reaching its 25
th
birthday and some important gains made during that time, the overall system remains
flawed in important respects, including in relation to remedies and enforcement. She
concludes by highlighting the need for greater societal understanding in the context of
gender equality.
Our next contribution takes us to Indonesia as Mohammad Ibrahim considers ‘The
judicialisation of discrimination in the Indonesian constitutional court’. The court has the
task of reviewing the constitutionality of national legislation and upholding and inter-
preting the constitutional Bill of Rights, which includes the right to be free from dis-
crimination on any ground and the right to protection against discrimination equality
before the law. The Constitution lacks an exhaustive list of grounds against which
discrimination is prohibited and the author explores this issue with reference to the court’s
jurisprudence. The central argument is that, in recent years, the court has used the
justification of religious orthodoxy to undermine fundamental rights in respect of equality
and non-discrimination, thus enabling discrimination in a range of circumstances on the
grounds of the need to maintain and protect religious beliefs.
In ‘When rights collide: Examining conflicts between gender identity, sexual orien-
tation, and religious discrimination protections’Ashley M. Alteri considers the US
Supreme Court’s 2020 extension of federal employment discrimination protections to
individuals based on their gender identity or sexual orientation in the Bostock case. The
author’s analysis explores the question of whether religious freedom laws can be rec-
onciled with this development in cases involving a clash of rights in the context of
employment, concluding that the conflict between these two sets of rights is far from
resolved. Alteri argues that, rather than waiting for the courts to make the necessary
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