On The Constitutional Protection Of Equality Rights

The objection of the dissertation is to discuss how to realize the constitutional protection of equality rights in China. It discusses the experience in constitution-making and judicial application of constitutional law from other countries, then measures about realization of constitutional protection of equality rights in China are given.Four research achievements on constitutional protection of equality rights in other countries are drawn from the comparative analysis. (1) The definition of equality rights. It is a series of of constitutional rights norms which require state power authorities and the strong might shall have the buren of proof for their actions of difference treatment, which are stipulated expressly or implied necessarily in such related norms as written constitutions, constitutional laws, convenants on human rights, constitutional interpretation, constitutional precedents and constitutional conventions etc. It is the integration of general equality rights and specific equality rights. Its basic meanings are that citizens should have the equal legal status before constitutions and laws without the distinction of ethnic, race, colour, sex, language, profession, political opinion, religion, property, residential place, household register, family and other origins etc. Citizens should enjoy the rights equally and perform the duties equally provided by constitutions and laws. Citizens have equal rights to punishment and to remedy. It also means 'Treat the same likely and the differences differently', and anyone shouldn't be discriminated and treated differently without rational reasons. (2) Relations between liberty and equality must be coordinated in political theory and constitutional theory, then the doctrine of relations between liberty and equality should be applied to constitution-making and application of constitutions by law courts. (3) Three structural elements of equality rights norms. Firstly, its basic contents have the following: such expression modes as equality before law, equality under law, equal protection of the law, equal interests; prohibition of discrimination; opposion of privilege and individual cult; subjects and binding objects and subject-matters of equality rights; types of specific equality rights, and difference of treatment Secondly, limitations placed on equality rights, which consist of general limitations and specific limitations, including limitations and limits of limitations placed on equality rights. Thirdly, measures for safeguarding equality rights, which contain the following provisions: status of constitutional supremacy, direct legal effect applied by law courts, binding force, no discriminatory limit or amendment of constitutional rights by law, constitutional review organs and its procedures etc. Fourthly, a set of technical norms of constitutional review on whether infringement of equality rights has taken place, including the formulation of ' treating the same likely and the differences differently', prohibition of discrimination, opposition of discriminatory action, permission of reasonable and just difference treatment, standards of constitutional reviewon whether differences of treatment are rational and just, that is to say, on which strict degree of standard can be applied to different types of equality rights ,or to equality rights with different functions. In short, different review standard chosen according to different types of equality rights should be used to judge whether the objectives of difference treatment or classifications are unconstitutional, and whether mere are rational relations between the actions and achievement of the objectives, and then to decide whether a violation of equality rights has taken place.Several workable conclusions on constitutional protection of equality rights in China are drawn from it. (1) In theory, we must know the harmfulness of one-sided mistakes we have made which we paid great attention to equality and ignored liberty, and make the spirit of limiting state power implied by liberty into equ...