Foundations of Indirect Discrimination Law

by Hugh Collins, Tarunabh Khaitan

Overview

Indirect discrimination (or disparate impact) concerns the application of the same rule to everyone, even though that rule significantly disadvantages one particular group in society. Ever since its recognition by the Supreme Court of the United States in 1971, liberal democracies around the world have grappled with the puzzle that it can sometimes be unfair and wrong to treat everyone equally. The law's regulation of private acts that unintentionally (but disproportionately) harm vulnerable groups has remained extremely controversial, especially in the United States and the United Kingdom. In original essays in this volume, leading scholars of discrimination law from North America and Europe explore the various facets of the law on indirect discrimination, interrogating its foundations, history, legitimacy, purpose, structure, and relationship with other legal concepts. The collection provides the first international work devoted to this vital area of the law that seeks both to prevent unfair treatment and to transform societies.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781509939664
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	06/25/2020
Pages:	304
Product dimensions:	6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x 0.64(d)

About the Author

Hugh Collins is the Vinerian Professor of English Law, All Souls' College, Oxford.

Tarunabh Khaitan is Associate Professor & Hackney Fellow in Law at Wadham College, Oxford and Associate Professor & Future Fellow, Melbourne Law School.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements v

List of Contributors ix

1 Indirect Discrimination Law: Controversies and Critical Questions Hugh Collins Tarunabh Khaitan 1

2 Direct and Indirect Discrimination: Is There Still a Divide? Sandra Fredman 31

3 Approaching the Indirect-Direct Discrimination Distinction: Concepts, Justifications and Policies Nicholas Bamforth 57

4 Judicial Scepticism of Discrimination at the ECtHR Barbara Havelková 83

5 Indirect Discrimination and the Duty to Avoid Compounding Injustice Deborah Hellman 105

6 The Moral Seriousness of Indirect Discrimination Sophia Moreau 123

7 Squaring the Circle: Can an Egalitarian and Individualistic Conception of Freedom of Religion or Belief Co-exist with the Notion of Indirect Discrimination? Ronan McCrea 149

8 Indirect Discrimination, Affirmative Action and Relational Egalitarianism Kasper Lippert-Rasmussen 173

9 Wrongs, Group Disadvantage and the Legitimacy of Indirect Discrimination Law Tarunabh Khaitan Sandy Steel 197

10 Anti-discrimination Law and the Duty to Integrate Julie C Suk 223

11 Justice for Foxes: Fundamental Rights and Justification of Indirect Discrimination Hugh Collins 249

Index 279

Editorial Reviews

"[A]n erudite collection of essays which at times is thought provoking... it is not necessarily aimed at practitioners, it is a useful tool in understanding how others analyse the concept of indirect discrimination; it explores some of the factors which may consciously or subconsciously influence the thinking of, and arguments of, opponents and judges in their approach to some of the more difficult issues thrown up by indirect discrimination claims." --Briefings, Discrimination Law Association

"[T]his book excels in offering a snapshot into contemporary discrimination law scholarship and is a must-read for anyone working in this area. Several of the essays are sure to shape the contours of debates in this field for years." --Cambridge Law Journal

From the Publisher