Equality in Immigration Law

An Impossible Quest

Bibliographic Data

ID6068838
AuthorsJean-Baptiste Farcy (0000-0002-7457-3763, corresponding author)
Year2020
Volume20
Issue4
Pages725-744
Publication date2020-12-09
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueHuman Rights Law Review (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1461-7781 • E-ISSN: 1744-1021
PublisherOxford University Press (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1093/hrlr/ngaa037
OpenAlexW3106983897
LanguageEN
Citations received6

The aim of this article is to discuss why the principle of equality and non-discrimination, although foundational to international human rights law, remains an unfulfilled promise in the context of immigration. Nationality is now widely considered as a suspect ground of discrimination, yet contemporary immigration and citizenship laws increasingly use meritocratic criteria to distinguish among migrants. Although framed in universal terms, these criteria create differences of treatment among migrants based on their income, level of education and economic worth. However, from a legal perspective such differences of treatment rarely amount to prohibited discrimination. Looking at the case law of the European Court of Human Rights, this article argues that the normative content of the equality and non-discrimination principle fails to challenge such differences of treatment. Moreover, the proportionality test is used as a judicial restraint mechanism which prevents the effective enforcement of the equality requirement by international and domestic courts in the context of immigration

Citizenship · Context (archaeology) · Enforcement · Human rights · Immigration · Immigration law · Law and economics · Nationality · Normative · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Suspect · Discrimination and Equality Law · European and International Law Studies · European Criminal Justice and Data Protection · Law

Tools

Open DOIOpen Access