(Il)legitimate differential treatment
| Date | 01 March 2015 |
| DOI | 10.1177/1358229114558389 |
| Author | Elise Muir |
| Published date | 01 March 2015 |
| Subject Matter | Editorial |
Editorial
(Il)legitimate
differential treatment
Elise Muir
Exploring the limits of equality law
Since the expiry of thetransposition period of the Racial and Employment Equality Direc-
tives,
1
national non-discrimination regimes have considerably developed. The past 10
years have been marked by the broadening of the scope of European Union (EU) non-
discrimination law,
2
efforts to consolidate the definition of key legal concepts
3
as well
as the constitutionalization of this areaof law.
4
Accession by the EU to the UnitedNations
Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) in 2010 as well as the
prospect of accession to the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) intensifies
the relevance of international law in the fight against discrimination across Europe.
Domestically,legislation, court judgmentsand equality bodies are building on this EU and
international law framework, thereby expanding the reach of non-discrimination law.
In recent years however, some member states at the Council have proven reluctant to
extendthe scope of EU non-discriminationlegislationany further.
5
The proposal for a d irec-
tiveto implement the principleof equal treatment betweenpersons irrespectiveof religion or
belief, disability, age or sexualorientation beyond employment and occupationto access to
goods and servicesis still stuck in the pipelines of the EU legislative process.
6
One of the
common concerns expressed by some member states and reflecting objections raised by
employersand service providers is thatnon-discrimination law hasgone far enough or may
actually have gone too faralready, by imposing constraints on public and private actors.
7
This special issue
8
seeks to explore the underpinnings of this concern through a detailed
analysis of the use of exceptions and justifications to the prohibition of discrimination
under the existing provisions of EU law and the UNCRPD.
9
For the purposes of this vol-
ume, ‘exceptions’ are situations that are excluded from the scope of non-discrimination
law and where different treatment is thus allowed, whilst ‘justifications’ are situations
Faculty of Law, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands
Corresponding author:
Elise Muir,Faculty of Law, MaastrichtUniversity, PO Box 616,6200 MD Maastricht, The Netherlands.
Email: elise.muir@maastrichtuniversity.nl
International Journalof
Discrimination and theLaw
2015, Vol. 15(1-2) 3–10
ªThe Author(s) 2014
Reprints and permission:
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DOI: 10.1177/1358229114558389
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