equality before law
Same rules, everyone
Equality before law is the principle that legal systems should treat all people the same regardless of status, wealth, or identity.
Courts apply the same rules to everyone; no one is above the law, and no one is beneath its protection.
The phrase appears in constitutional texts and human rights declarations: The constitution guarantees equality before law.
- justiceFair treatment under law
- blind justiceFair treatment regardless of status
- Lady JusticePersonification of fair judgment
- scales of justiceSymbol of fair judgment
- judiciaryLaw-interpreting government branch
legislature · fairness · anti-discrimination · color blind · human dignity · impartiality · level playing field · Magna Carta · universal suffrage · natural law · due process · fair trial · day in court · rule of law · legal protection · civil rights · jury · constitution
- rightscivil liberties, constitutional rights, right, rights, human rights
- Liberal RevolutionsFrench Revolution, American Revolution, Hungarian Revolution, Greek War of Independence, Haitian Revolution
equality before lawlegal discrimination
Unequal treatment permitted by law
discrimination · judicial bias · preferential treatment · favoritism
equality before lawlegal privilege
Protected status in law
above the law · immunity from prosecution · impunity · sovereign immunity · legal exemption
equality before lawapartheid
Racial separation policy
Jim Crow laws · caste system · Nuremberg Laws · segregation · systemic bias
equality, equal, equally, equalize, equalization, equalizer, unequal, inequality, equate