ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the normative and philosophical bases of the principle of equality. Secondly, it explores and maps out how contemporary international human rights law transposes and applies the principle, especially as it relates to the prohibition of discrimination. As with Berlins observation about equality proper, they assert that equality without further moral guidance says nothing about how the authors should act and is anterior to and dependent upon rights to give it form and function. Sen suggests that the authors should attempt to equalize individual capabilities because 'there is evidence that the conversion of goods to capabilities varies from person to person substantially, and the equality of the former may still be far from the equality of the latter'. Therefore, while human rights treaty law does not provide for a right to equality per se, in practice the human rights bodies' interpretations of these norms suggest that the right has developed organically.
