Faculty of Law, University of Oxford, UK
Health Hum Rights. 2009;11(2):47-63.
Equality and non-discrimination are core principles in international human rights law, and all members of the United Nations have legal obligations to promote these principles. Although widely adopted into law, interpretations of the rights to equality and non-discrimination, as well as their relationship to each other, vary considerably across jurisdictions. At the international level, there are separate provisions on equality and non-discrimination in the human rights treaties, yet legal scholars tend to treat the two concepts as one. This article examines the equality and non-discrimination provisions in the International Bill of Human Rights to consider their potential for addressing economic and social inequalities. The article proposes a legal framework that recognizes positive equality as distinct from status-based non-discrimination. Finally, it argues that both of these distinct rights have important roles in contributing to realizing social rights, in particular, a right to health care.
平等和非歧视是国际人权法的核心原则，联合国所有成员都有法律义务促进这些原则。尽管平等和非歧视权利已被广泛纳入法律，但对这些权利的解释以及它们之间的关系在不同司法管辖区存在很大差异。在国际层面，人权条约中有关于平等和非歧视的单独规定，但法律学者往往将这两个概念视为一个整体。本文审查了《国际人权宪章》中的平等和非歧视条款，以考虑它们在解决经济和社会不平等方面的潜力。本文提出了一个法律框架，承认积极平等与基于身份的非歧视不同。最后，本文认为，这两项不同的权利都在促进实现社会权利方面发挥着重要作用，特别是在医疗保健方面。
