How Can the Law Help Reduce Group-Based Inequalities?

A CRISE Workshop

Keble College, Oxford

14 - 15 May 2009

The objective of this two-day workshop was to examine and compare legal instruments that have been adopted in multiethnic countries to correct horizontal inequalities (HIs). We intended to establish what the state of the art is in terms of legal provision and to gain more in-depth knowledge of how and when legal instruments can be effective. A key question was to consider the usefulness of legal instruments in the context of societies with weak legal systems (a predominant condition in the developing world). There is evidence that even in such contexts legal instrument can play important roles, but we need a better grasp of what exactly can be achieved and under what conditions.

We examined three broad approaches to legal policies. The first relates to equality or anti-discrimination law, which is experiencing something of a revival. Countries with no history of equality laws are introducing them, while other countries are revisiting existing provisions or expanding them beyond the public sector. The second theme relates to public litigation and the use of litigation by deprived groups to secure certain rights. To date, the use of the courts to secure rights has been examined principally in the light of improving social policy that benefits the poor, but we also looked at the implications of this approach for group rights and policies. Finally, we wanted to examine a series of lower-profile initiatives in particularly difficult or adverse political contexts, such as the emergence of Human Rights ombudsmen in Latin America. Ultimately, the aim was not so much to identify instruments that lead to an immediate reduction in HIs, but to understand if these instruments play a contributory and preparatory role, concentrating awareness until the political context allows the formulation of policies to reduce HIs directly.

Programme

Abstracts

Session Notes

Participants

Abstracts

Colleen Sheppard	McGill University	Reducing Group-Based Inequalities in a Legally Plural World Summary
Sandra Fredman	University of Oxford	Engendering Socio-economic Rights Summary
Galina Kostadinova	University of Oxford/Minority Rights Group International	Minority Rights and the Roma in Europe Summary Full Paper
Denise Réaume	University of Toronto	Defining Language Groups: a case study of eligibility for minority language schooling in Canada Summary
Cathi Albertyn	University of the Witwatersrand	Law and Inequality in South Africa: inclusion and exclusion Summary
Reena Patel	University of Warwick	Gender, Inequality and HIV/AIDS in India: challenges and lessons Summary
Verena Wiesner	Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law	Legal Instruments for Group Accommodation in Sudan: chances and challenges for a lasting peace Summary
Thomas Pegram	University of Oxford	Weak Institutions, Rights Claims and Pathways to Compliance: the transformative role of the Peruvian Human Rights Ombudsman Summary
Roddy Brett	Northern Arizona University	*Confronting Racism From Within the Guatemalan State: the challenges faced by the Defensoría* of Indigenous Rights of Guatemala’s Human Rights Ombudsman’s Office** Summary
Nicolas Zambrana Tévar	University of Navarra	Accountability of Multinational Corporations for Environmental, Labour and Human Rights Violations: the case for private justice Summary
Rachael Diprose and Ariyanti Rianom	University of Oxford and CRISE/Ausaid Project on the Impact of Humanitarian Aid Distribution on Horizontal Inequalities and Conflict Management	Reducing inequalities through demand-driven justice provision in Indonesia Summary
Pilar Domingo	Institute for the Study of the Americas	Social and Economic Rights Litigation: recent trends in Latin America Summary
Alex Fischer	School of Oriental and African Studies	Cream Rises: courts and the dilemma of recognition in India’s affirmative action policies Summary
Colin Gonsalves	Human Rights Law Network	Human Rights Trends in the Indian Supreme Court Summary

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