Constituting Equality: Gender Equality and Comparative Constitutional Law

Half-title......Page 3
Title......Page 5
Copyright......Page 6
Dedication......Page 7
Contents......Page 9
List of Contributors......Page 11
Acknowledgments......Page 17
Constituting equality......Page 19
Introduction: Comparative Constitutional Law, Gender Equality, and Constitutional Design......Page 21
A. Section one: structure......Page 25
B. Section two: rights......Page 28
C. Section three: culturereligion and gender equality......Page 33
E. Section four: constitutions and international law......Page 37
F. Section five: women in the process of constitution making......Page 40
G. Conclusion......Page 43
Section One Structure......Page 47
Introduction......Page 49
I. Taxonomy of quotas......Page 50
B. The Second Dimension......Page 52
C. Combining the Two Dimensions: Six Quota Types......Page 53
D. Gender Neutral?......Page 54
E. Do Quotas Suspend Competition?......Page 55
F. From Candidate to Electee......Page 56
II. Frequency of gender quotas......Page 57
III. Legislated candidate quotas......Page 60
IV. Voluntary candidate quotas in political parties......Page 64
A. Swedish Political Parties......Page 66
V. Reserved seat quotas......Page 67
A. Rwanda......Page 68
B. Other Examples......Page 69
Conclusion: voluntary or legislative gender quotas?......Page 70
2 Equality, Representation, and Challenge to Hierarchy: Justifying Electoral Quotas for Women......Page 73
I. Objections to electoral gender quotas......Page 74
A. Models of Equality......Page 76
B. Models of Democracy......Page 80
III. The unanswered objection......Page 84
IV. The idea of challenge as an element of democracy and equality......Page 85
V. Application to electoral gender quotas......Page 89
VI. The emotional stance implicit in the focus on challenge......Page 91
Section Two Rights......Page 93
Introduction......Page 95
I. Constitutional opportunity structures......Page 96
II. More than equality rights......Page 99
III. Hegemonic universalism......Page 103
IV. Freezing the conceptual imagination......Page 105
V. Costs of litigation......Page 109
Conclusion......Page 111
4 Perfectionism and Fundamentalism in the Application of the German Abortion Laws......Page 113
I. German abortion law from the 1970s until german reunification......Page 115
II. The post-unification compromise......Page 117
III. Perfectionist and fundamentalist characteristics defined......Page 119
IV. My feminist fundamentalist concerns about the german compromise......Page 121
V. Perfectionism and fundamentalism in the response of the catholic church......Page 124
5 Moral Authority in English and American Abortion Law......Page 127
I. English and american law in contrast and comparison......Page 130
A. Abortion Rights and State Interests in Contrast and Comparison......Page 131
B. Minors, Autonomy Rights, and Abortion in Contrast and Comparison......Page 137
C. Third-Party Moral Authority in English and American Abortion Law......Page 139
A. The Moral Authorities: An Evidenced-Based Approach......Page 140
B. The Moral Authorities: A Gendered Approach......Page 144
A. The Moral Authority of Experience......Page 148
B. Young Women's Moral Authority......Page 151
Conclusion......Page 152
Section Three Culture/religion and gender equality......Page 155
Introduction......Page 157
I. Constitutional setting......Page 158
II. Feminist tensions......Page 163
A. First Lesson......Page 170
B. Second Lesson......Page 172
Conclusion......Page 175
Introduction......Page 177
I. A substantive equality approach to islamic family law: gender and the indeterminacy of legal doctrine......Page 178
i. The Enforcement and Readjustment of Mahr as Alimony: The Case of Germany......Page 179
ii. The Enforcement of Mahr Even Though the Wife Initiated Divorce: The Case of Québec......Page 180
i. The Unenforceability of Mahr On the Basis of Equity: The Case of Québec......Page 182
ii. The Unenforceability of Mahr on the Basis of Substantial Justice: The Case of Canada......Page 183
iii. The Unenforceability of Mahr on Grounds of Public Policy: The Case of France and the United States......Page 184
A. The Production of Western Law......Page 186
B. The Production of Islamic Law......Page 187
Conclusion......Page 191
Introduction......Page 193
I. Background......Page 194
A. Political Rights......Page 196
A. Employment-Related Rights......Page 199
B. Citizenship......Page 201
IV. Colonial legal legacies......Page 202
V. Customary law......Page 204
A. Women Treated as Minors......Page 207
ii. Female Genital Cutting......Page 210
C. Land Rights......Page 211
Conclusions......Page 213
Introduction......Page 215
I. Background: customary law and its adverse effects on women......Page 216
II. The constitutional framework......Page 218
III. Gender equality: inequality among women......Page 219
A. Customary versus Civil Law: The Statutory Background......Page 220
B. The Supreme Court Rulings on Women and Customary Law......Page 222
C. The Necessity for Reform......Page 224
IV. Gender inequality: inequality between men and women......Page 225
A. AFELL and the Inheritance and Rape Laws: A Case Study in Reform......Page 227
B. Future Projects......Page 229
B. Conclusion......Page 230
Section Four Constitutions and international law......Page 233
Introduction......Page 235
A. The Facts......Page 237
C. The Ruling of the Court......Page 239
II. The court's reasoning......Page 243
A. The Incorporation of International Human Rights Law into Domestic Constitutional Law......Page 244
B. The Status of Prenatal Life under the Colombian Constitution and Constitutionalized Human Rights Treaties......Page 251
C. The Status of Women's Rights under the Colombian Constitution and Constitutionalized Human Rights Treaties......Page 254
D. How the Proportionality Principle Limits Legislative Power to Criminalize Abortion......Page 257
III. The colombian decision as a model for other latin american courts......Page 261
IV. The originality of the decision and challenges ahead......Page 265
Introduction......Page 268
A. Unenviable Conditions......Page 272
i. The 1945 Constitution......Page 273
ii. The 1965 Constitution......Page 274
iii. The 1985 Constitution......Page 275
A. International Law......Page 276
B. International Encounters – The Notable Role of Trans-border Feminism......Page 277
C. Peace Agreements......Page 280
i. Acting Within......Page 281
ii. Acting Out......Page 284
III. Continued cause for cosmopolitanism......Page 286
Conclusion......Page 288
Section Five Women in the process of constitution making......Page 291
12 Women in the Constitutional Drafting Process in Burma......Page 293
I. A brief history of burmese constitutionalism......Page 294
II. Current constitutional processes......Page 296
III. The sources of discrimination against women in burma......Page 299
IV. The wlb's position on gender equality......Page 300
V. Wlb's strategy for women's participation......Page 301
VI. Results of the wlb's approach......Page 306
VII. Remaining challenges: where do we go from here?......Page 308
Introduction......Page 310
A. Custom and Tradition......Page 311
B. Religious Law (Shari’a)......Page 314
C. Personal Status Code......Page 316
D. Electoral laws......Page 321
II. The basic law and draft constitution......Page 323
III. Suggestions for the founding mothers......Page 327
Conclusion......Page 330
Conclusion: Gender Equality and the Idea of a Constitution: Entrenchment, Jurisdiction, Interpretation......Page 332
I. Feminist theory and constitutional theory: rapprochement or disengagement?......Page 335
II. Constitutions and entrenchment......Page 339
III. Jurisdiction......Page 346
A. Federal Jurisdiction – Hierarchy, Exclusivity, Concurrency......Page 347
B. International Jurisdiction......Page 352
IV. Interpretation......Page 354
Conclusion......Page 369
Index......Page 371