Equality Rights and Non-Citizens in Europe and America: The Promise,the Practice and Some Remaining Issues

The article discusses the fundamental role played by the notion of equality and shows that a general promise of equality is a hallmark of the UN system to which non-citizens’ may lay claim. Recent international juridical practice shows a progressive move towards equality between citizens and non-citizens in civil and social rights. An international human rights doctrine and norms have been established for distinguishing between differentiation which is legitimate and discrimination. The article examines the effect of the international test and doctrine of equality for some of the key rights at issue in practice for several categories of non-citizens. The article reflects on the interpretative power of the texts of regional human rights treaties on State obligations under a ratified human rights treaty. When States enter into treaties involving human beings for whatever purpose, for example the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) or the Treaty on European Union (EU), they do not do so in a legal vacuum. Human beings attract human rights from treaties at the international and regional level. Many States have entered one or more of these human rights treaties so that any other additional treaty must be consonant with the existing human rights treaty obligations. One of the human rights treaty promises is that of human rights in equality. The article argues that when States jointly grant rights or benefits under a further treaty, the further treaty must ensure that the rights jointly granted must be granted in equality. The article concludes that to ensure the promise of non-discrimination for non-citizens requires further initiatives and suggests efforts to ensure treaties impacting non-citizens are ratified (especially those relating to economic and social rights and migrant workers), a review of existing treaties involving non-citizens, a more careful application of non-discrimination provisions by human rights treaty bodies and further efforts to establish the equality doctrine and norms in international human rights law by seeking to use the doctrine in complaints and reporting mechanisms.