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The Global Gender Equality Constitutional Database is a repository of gender equality related provisions in 194 constitutions from around the world. The Database was updated in partnership with the International Bar Association's Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI) and with support from the Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA) and the Government of Japan. Experience its wealth and depth of information by starting your search now.
Equality and Non-Discrimination
- English(1) Subject to subsections (4), (5) and (7), no law shall make any provision that is discriminatory either of itself or in its effect.
(2) Subject to subsections (6), (7), (8) and (9), a person shall not be treated in a discriminatory manner by any person acting by virtue of any written law or in the performance of the functions of any public office or any public authority.
(3) In this section the expression “discriminatory” means affording different treatment to different persons attributable wholly or mainly to their respective descriptions by race, place of origin, birth out of wedlock, political opinions or affiliations, colour, sex or creed whereby persons of one such description are subjected to disabilities or restrictions to which persons of another such description are not made subject or are accorded privileges or advantages that are not accorded to persons of another such description.
(4) Subsection (1) shall not apply to any law so far as that law makes provision
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(c) for the application, in the case of persons of any such description as is mentioned in subsection (3) (or of persons connected with such persons) of the law with respect to adoption, marriage, divorce, burial, devolution of property on death or other like matters that is the personal law of persons of that description; or
(d) whereby persons of any such description as is mentioned in subsection (3) may be subjected to any disability or restriction or may be accorded any privilege or advantage that, having regard to its nature and to special circumstances pertaining to those persons or to persons of any other such description, is reasonably justifiable in a democratic society.
(5) Nothing contained in any law shall be held to be inconsistent with or in contravention of subsection (1) to the extent that it makes provision with respect to standards or qualifications (not being standards or qualifications specifically relating to race, place of origin, birth out of wedlock, political opinions or affiliations, colour, creed or sex) to be required of any person who is appointed to or to act in any office under the Crown, any office in the service of a local government authority or any office in a body corporate established by law for public purposes.
(6) Subsection (2) shall not apply to anything that is expressly or by necessary implication authorised to be done by any such provision of law as is referred to in subsection (4) or (5).
(7) Nothing contained in or done under the authority of any law shall be held to be inconsistent with or in contravention of subsection (1) or (2) to the extent that the law in question makes provision whereby persons of any such description as is mentioned in subsection (3) may be subjected to any restriction on the rights and freedoms guaranteed by sections 9, 11, 12, 13 and 14, being such a restriction as is authorised by section 9(2), 11(5), 12(2) or 13(2) or, as the case may be, paragraph (a), (b), or (h) of section 14(3).
(8) Nothing in subsection (2) shall affect any discretion relating to the institution, conduct or discontinuance of civil or criminal proceedings in any court that is vested in any person by or under any law.
(9) Nothing in subsection (2) shall apply in relation to the exercise of any function vested in any person or authority by any of the provisions of this Constitution except sections 78(1), 79(2), 80(1), 81(1), 82(1), 83 and 85 (which relate to the appointment etc. of public officers). (Sec. 15)
Equality and Non-Discrimination
- English
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– Justice, equality, and equal opportunities among citizens are pillars of society, guaranteed by the state.
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– … The state shall guarantee equality between women and men,
... (Art. 15) - Arabic
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– العدل والمساواة وتكافؤ الفرص بين المواطنين دعامات للمجتمع، تكفلها الدولة.
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– ... وتكفل الدولة تحقيق المساواة بين المرأة والرجل،
... (المادّة ١٥)
Equality and Non-Discrimination
- English(1) The Social Order of the State shall be founded on the ideals of Freedom, Equality and Justice.
(2) In furtherance of the Social Order—
a. every citizen shall have equality of rights, obligations, and opportunities before the law, and the State shall ensure that every citizen has an equal right and access to all opportunities and benefits based on merit;
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c. the Government shall secure and maintain the independence, impartiality and integrity of courts of law and unfettered access thereto, and to this end shall ensure that the operation of the legal system promotes justice on the basis of equal opportunity, and that opportunities for securing justice are not denied any citizen by reason of economic or other disability.
… (Sec. 8)
Equality and Non-Discrimination
- English…
DECLARE that we are all Fijians united by common and equal citizenry;
… (Preamble) - iTaukei…
TUSANAKA nida sa kai Viti eda sa dua bau na umatamata;
… (Ikau)
Equality and Non-Discrimination
- EnglishThe Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela is irrevocably free and independent, basing its moral property and values of freedom, equality, justice and international peace on the doctrine of Simon Bolivar, the Liberator. … (Art. 1)
- SpanishLa República Bolivariana de Venezuela es irrevocablemente libre e independiente y fundamenta su patrimonio moral y sus valores de libertad, igualdad, justicia y paz internacional, en la doctrina de Simón Bolívar, el Libertador. … (Art. 1)
Equality and Non-Discrimination
- English...
(5) The State shall strengthen national unity by promoting co-operation and mutual confidence among all sections of the People of Sri Lanka, including the racial, religious, linguistic and other groups and shall take effective steps in the fields of teaching, education and information in order to eliminate discrimination and prejudice.
(6) The State shall ensure equality of opportunity to citizens, so that no citizen shall suffer any disability on the ground of race, religion, language, caste, sex, political opinion or occupation.
(7) The State shall eliminate economic and social privilege and disparity and the exploitation of man by man or by the State.
… (Art. 27) - Sinhala...
(5) වාර්ගික, ආගමික, විවිධ භාෂා භාවිත කරන සහ වෙනත් ජන කොට්ඨාස ඇතුළු ශ්රී ලංකා වාසී සකල ජනතාව අතර සහයෝගය සහ අන්යොන්ය විශ්වාසය වඩාලීමෙන් ජාතියේ සමගිය තහවුරු කිරීම ද, විශේෂ සැලකිලි සහ වෙනස්කම් තුරන් කිරීම සඳහා ඉගැන්වීම, අධ්යාපනය දීම සහ ප්රවෘත්ති සැපයීම යන ක්ෂේත්රවල ඵලදායී පියවර ගැනීම ද රජය විසින් කළ යුත්තේ ය.
(6) කිසිම පුරවැසියකු, වර්ගය, ආගම, භාෂාව, කුලය, ස්ත්රී පුරුෂ භේදය, දේශපාලන මතය හෝ රැකියාව හේතුවෙන් යම් කිසි අශක්නුතාවකට පත් නොවන පරිදි පුරවැසියන්ට දියුණු වීමට සම ප්රස්තාවන් සැලසීමට රජය වගබලා ගත යුත්තේ ය.
(7) ආර්ථීක සහ සාමාජයික වරප්රසාද හා විෂමතා ද, මිනිසා විසින් හෝ රජය විසින් හෝ මිනිස් ශ්රමය අයථා පරිදි උපයෝගී කර ගැන්ම ද, රජය විසින් තුරන් කළ යුත්තේ ය.
… (27 වැනි වගන්තිය)
Equality and Non-Discrimination
- EnglishPeople are equal before the law, and have the right to the protection of the law without discrimination between them because of ethnicity, color, gender, language, religious faith, political opinion, racial or ethnic origin, or any other reason. (Art. 47)
- Arabicالناس متساوون أمام القانون، ولهم الحق في التمتع بحماية القانون دون تمييز بينهم بسبب الإثنية او اللون او النوع او اللغة او العقءدة الدينية اة الرأي السياسي او الاصل العرقي او الاثني او اي سبب اخر. (الماده 48)
Equality and Non-Discrimination
- English(1) Anything done or omitted which would otherwise constitute a breach of any of the provisions of this Part shall not constitute such a breach if—
(a) it is done or omitted in good faith for the purpose of assisting or advancing persons or groups of persons, being in each case persons against whom discrimination is unlawful by virtue of this Part; and
(b) those persons or groups need or may reasonably be supposed to need assistance or advancement in order to achieve an equal place with other members of the community.
… (Human Rights Act 1993, Sec. 73)
Equality and Non-Discrimination
- EnglishTo enjoy the protection of the law, and to be treated in accordance with law, and only in accordance with law, is the inalienable right of every citizen, wherever he may be, and of every other person for the time being within Bangladesh, and in particular no action detrimental to the life, liberty, body, reputation or property of any person shall be taken except in accordance with law. (Art. 31)
- Bengaliআইনের আশ্রয়লাভ এবং আইনানুযায়ী ও কেবল আইনানুযায়ী ব্যবহারলাভ যে কোন স্থানে অবস্থানরত প্রত্যেক নাগরিকের এবং সাময়িকভাবে বাংলাদেশে অবস্থানরত অপরাপর ব্যক্তির অবিচ্ছেদ্য অধিকার এবং বিশেষতঃ আইনানুযায়ী ব্যতীত এমন কোন ব্যবস্থা গ্রহণ করা যাইবে না, যাহাতে কোন ব্যক্তির জীবন, স্বাধীনতা, দেহ, সুনাম বা সম্পত্তির হানি ঘটে। (অনুচ্ছেদ ৩১)
Equality and Non-Discrimination
- EnglishEquality, social justice, and providing safety, security, and equal opportunities to all the citizens are pillars on which the community is grounded. … (Art. 14)
- Arabicالمساواة ، والعدالة الاجتماعية ، وتوفير الأمن والطمأنينة ، وتكافؤ الفرص لجميع المواطنين ، من دعامات المجتمع ... (المادّة 14)