1. International Law Discrimination, equality before the law and equal protection of the law International human rights law elaborates a series of rights and freedoms to which all human beings are entitled. The rights to freedom from discrimination and to equality before the law and equal protection of the law “constitute a basic and general principle relating to the protection of human rights.” 4 The principle of non-discrimination is recognised in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), the International Convention on the Rights of the Child, (CROC); the International Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (ICRPD) and the International Convention on the Protection of Migrant Workers. By way of example, Article 2 of the ICCPR provides: Each State Party to the present Covenant undertakes to respect and to ensure to all individuals within its territory and subject to its jurisdiction the rights recognized in the present Covenant, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. The related rights to equality before the law and to equal protection of the law are recognised the UDHR and the ICCPR with Article 26 of the latter providing: All persons are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to the equal protection of the law. In this respect, the law shall prohibit any discrimination and guarantee to all persons equal and effective protection against discrimination on any ground such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. Discrimination is understood to refer to any distinction, exclusion, restriction or preference, based on the proscribed grounds, which has the purpose or effect of nullifying or impairing the recognition, enjoyment or exercise by all persons, on an equal footing, of all rights and freedoms. 5 It should also be noted that the above mentioned Articles elaborating the State’s obligation to respect rights free from discrimination, as well as those promoting equality before the law and equal protection of the law, are an inclusive, rather than exhaustive list of the proscribed grounds of discrimination. All proscribed grounds relevantly include ‘sex’ and ‘other status’. The rights to freedom from discrimination, equality before the law and equal protection of the law are also recognised in regional instruments, notably the African Charter, the American and European Conventions, and in the Asia Pacific region, the Arab Charter on Human Rights. 6 4 Human Rights Committee, General Comment No. 18: Non-discrimination, (paragraph 1). 5 Human Rights Committee, General Comment No. 18: Non-discrimination, (paragraph 7). 6 The African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights, the American Convention on Human Rights, European Convention on Human Rights and the Arab Charter on Human Rights. ACJ Report: Human Rights, Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity 10