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1 Int'l J. Discrimination & L. i (1995-1996)

handle is hein.journals/ijdisclw1 and id is 1 raw text is: International Journal of Discrimination and the Law, 1995, Vol. 1, pp. i-ii 1358-2291/95 $10 © 1995 A B Academic Publishers. Printed in Great Britain FOREWORD The appearance of the International Journal of Discrimination and the Law marks the coming-of-age of anti-discrimination law as a major subject of academic study, some 50 years after its practical beginnings in 'civil rights' legislation introduced in Massachusetts and New York. The heroic contribution of black Americans in the Second World War increased recognition among the previously apathetic (where not actively racist) white majority of the cruel absurdity of racial segregation. Yet it was only after the march on Washington under the charismatic leadership of Dr. Martin Luther King in 1963 that legal backing for anti-discrimination policies began to be extended over the whole of the United States. To-day it is a feature of many other legal systems as well - not only the common law jurisdiction of Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, but others following different legal traditions, such as Holland. New jurisdictions are being added all the time: South Africa is developing a new anti-discrimination law and in Europe there is growing pressure for Community-wide legislation. This geographical growth has been accompanied by an increas- ing range of injustices brought within the scope of the law: in addi- tion to discrimination on grounds of race and gender, we see increas- ing attention paid to discrimination on grounds of religion, disability and sexual orientation. Even more significantly, the legal prohibition of discrimination has been embodied in international human rights law, especially by the widespread endorsement of the International Covenant on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination. Anti-discrimination law has given a new meaning to the notion of equality before the law. The duty of courts to deal equally with those who come before them is extended to a duty on those who wield economic power to exercise it equally. The social, political and cultural ramifications of this revolutionary change are immense. The meaning, scope and extent of the duty of equal treatment, the situ- ations to which it applies, and the consequences of breach, are what this Journal is about. The range and depth of the legal issues which have already emerged, and which will continue to confront us, are correspondingly daunting, but an impressive body of practical experience in the use of anti-discrimination measures already exists, especially in the United States and Britain. And, in celebrating the leap forward marked by the appearance of this Journal, we acknowledge the work

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