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Equality before the law

Equality before the law, also known as equality under the law, equality in the eyes
of the law, or legal equality, is the principle under which all people are subject to the
same laws of justice (due process).[1] Law also raises important and complex issues
concerning equality, fairness, and justice. There is an old saying that 'All are equal
before the law.' The author Anatole France said in 1894, "In its majestic equality, the
law forbids rich and poor alike to sleep under bridges, beg in the streets, and steal
loaves of bread."[2] The belief in equality before the law is called legal egalitarianism.
Article 7 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) states that "All are
equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to equal protection of
the law."[1]
Thus, everyone must be treated equally under the law regardless of their race, gender,
national origin, color, ethnicity, religion, disability, or other characteristics, without
privilege, discrimination, or bias.The general guarantee of equality is provided by most
of the world's national constitutions (read the provisions here), but the specifics vary
widely. For example, while many constitutions guarantee equality regardless of race
(read the provisions here), only a few mention the right to equality regardless of
nationality (read the provisions here).
Equality before the law is one of the basic principles of liberalism.[3][4]

History[edit]
In his famous funeral oration of 431 BC, the Athenian leader Pericles discussed this
concept. This may be the first known instance.
"If we look to the laws, they afford equal justice to all in their private differences; if no
social standing, advancement in public life falls to reputation for capacity, class
considerations not being allowed to interfere with merit; nor again does poverty bar the
way"[5]

Classical liberalism[edit]
Classical liberalism calls for equality before the law, not for equality of outcome.[3]
Classical liberalism, as embraced by modern conservatives, opposes pursuing group
rights at the expense of individual rights.[4] Lockean liberalism (the foundation for
classical liberalism) is interpreted by others, however, as including social rights and
responsibilities.[6]

Feminism[edit]
Equality before the law is a tenet of some branches of feminism. In the nineteenth
century, gender equality before the law was a radical goal, but later feminist views may
hold that formal legal equality is not enough to create actual and social equality between

women and men. An ideal of formal equality may penalize women for failing to
conform to a male norm, while an ideal of different treatment may reinforce sexist
stereotypes.[7]
In 1988, prior to serving as a Justice on the U.S. Supreme Court, Ruth Bader Ginsburg
wrote: "Generalizations about the way women or men are ... cannot guide me reliably in
making decisions about particular individuals[clarification needed]".[8] In an ACLU's Women's
Rights Project in the 1970s Ginsburg challenged, in Frontiero v. Richardson, the laws
that gave health service benefits to wives of servicemen but not to husbands of
servicewomen.[9]There are over 150 national constitutions that currently mention
equality regardless of gender (click here to explore the provisions).
Some radical feminists, however, have opposed equality before the law, because they
think that it maintains the weak position of the weak.[10]

Nebraska[edit]
The phrase "Equality before the law" is the motto of the State of Nebraska and appears
on its state seal.

Parricide law[edit]
Article 200 of the Criminal Code of Japan, the penalty regarding parricide, was declared
unconstitutional for violating the equality under the law by the Supreme Court of Japan
in 1973, as a result of the trial of the Tochigi patricide case.[11]

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