EQUAL BEFORE THE LAW? UNMASKING DISPARITIES IN REAL-WORLD JUSTICE
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.14456/acsr.2025.13Keywords:
Equality Before the Law, Justice Disparities, Criminal Justice Reform, Institutional Bias, Comparative LawAbstract
Equality before the law—a cornerstone of democratic governance—faces persistent challenges in the real world, undermining public trust and social cohesion. This article addresses the critical question: To what extent is equality before the law truly realized, and what factors perpetuate disparities in justice systems? Synthesizing two decades (2005-2024) of theoretical and empirical research, this study unmasks disparities in criminal justice, migration, and economic policy, demonstrating how discretion, institutional design, and structural factors interact to shape access, protections, and legal outcomes. Our analysis reveals that independent oversight, diversified decision-making, procedural fairness, and addressing fundamental social determinants are crucial for advancing equality. Drawing on cross-national comparisons and diverse case studies, we identify policy pathways that promote equality, including targeted reforms in adjudication and risk assessment, governance frameworks that minimize bias, and integrated policies that address social and economic disparities. This research contributes novel insights into the persistent gap between formal legal protections and substantive equality, offering evidence-based strategies to enhance fairness and accountability in justice systems. The findings underscore the ongoing need for vigilance and reform, even in seemingly egalitarian contexts like Sweden and the United Kingdom, and highlight the importance of context-sensitive, policy-coherent approaches to promote real-world equality. These insights have significant implications for policymakers, legal practitioners, and researchers seeking to advance justice and reduce inequalities, particularly in the Asian context.
Downloads
References
Acemoğlu, D., & Wolitzky, A. (2020). A theory of equality before the law. The Economic Journal, 131(636), 1429-1465.
Akkan, B., & Buğra, A. (2021). Education and “categorical inequalities’’: Manifestation of segregation in six country contexts in Europe. Social Inclusion, 9(3), 313-323.
Angermeyer, P. (2021). Beyond translation equivalence: Advocating pragmatic equality before the law. Journal of Pragmatics, 174, 157-167.
Atrey, S. (2018). The intersectional case of poverty in discrimination law. Human Rights Law Review, 18(3), 411-440.
Bailey, J., Steeves, V., Burkell, J., Shade, L., Ruparelia, R., & Regan, P. (2019). Getting at equality: Research methods informed by the lessons of intersectionality. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 18, 1-13.
Balagopalan, S. (2019). Why historicize rights-subjectivities? children’s rights, compulsory schooling, and the deregulation of child labor in India. Childhood, 26(3), 304-320.
Bangkok Biz News. (2015). Power and justice. Retrieved from www.bangkokbiznews.com/blogs/columnist/109341
Bangkok Biz News. (2020). Prisons are not just for dogs and the poor!. Retrieved from www.bangkokbiznews.com/blogs/columnist/125691.
Berk, R., Heidari, H., Jabbari, S., Kearns, M., & Roth, A. (2018). Fairness in criminal justice risk assessments: The state of the art. Sociological Methods & Research, 50(1), 3-44.
Berk, R., Kuchibhotla, A., & Tchetgen, E. (2023). Improving fairness in criminal justice algorithmic risk assessments using optimal transport and conformal prediction sets. Sociological Methods & Research, 53(4), 1629-1675.
Boyd, C., Epstein, L., & Martin, A. (2010). Untangling the causal effects of sex on judging. American Journal of Political Science, 54(2), 389-411.
Buckler, K., Cullen, F., & Unnever, J. (2007). Citizen assessment of local criminal courts: Does fairness matter?. Journal of Criminal Justice, 35(5), 524-536.
Celis, K., & Childs, S. (2011). The substantive representation of women: What to do with conservative claims?. Political Studies, 60(1), 213-225.
Chong, S., Tee, C., & Cheng, S. (2020). Political institutions and the control of corruption: A cross-country evidence. Journal of Financial Crime, 28(1), 26-48.
Deearam, Y., & Wongudommongkol, A. (2024). Equality of persons before the law. Academic Journal for the Humanities and Social Sciences Dhonburi Rajabhat University, 7(2), B1-B15.
Dhuli, B. (2021). Organization of the Albanian judicial system. Interdisciplinary Journal of Research and Development, 8(1), 10-19.
Dmitriev, Y., Alyabin, I., Brovko, E., Dvinina, S., & Demyanova, O. (2021). Fostering university students’ digital skills: De jure vs de facto. University Management Practice and Analysis, 25(2), 59-79.
Donato, R., & Hanson, J. (2012). Legally white, socially “Mexican”: The politics of de jure and de facto school segregation in the American Southwest. Harvard Educational Review, 82(2), 202-225.
Elliott, I., Thomas, S., & Ogloff, J. (2011). Procedural justice in contacts with the police: Testing a relational model of authority in a mixed methods study. Psychology Public Policy and Law, 17(4), 592-610.
Farrell, A. (2011). Explaining leniency. Crime & Delinquency, 61(4), 509-537.
Farrell, A., Ward, G., & Rousseau, D. (2009). Race effects of representation among federal court workers: Does black workforce representation reduce sentencing disparities?. The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 623(1), 121-133.
Fredman, S. (2016). Substantive equality revisited: A rejoinder to Catharine Mackinnon. International Journal of Constitutional Law, 14(3), 747-751.
Fredman, S. (2023). Greening the workforce: A feminist perspective. International Journal of Comparative Labour Law and Industrial Relations, 39(3/4), 337-358.
Freiburger, T., & Hilinski, C. (2009). An examination of the interactions of race and gender on sentencing decisions using a trichotomous dependent variable. Crime & Delinquency, 59(1), 59-86.
Grossman, N. (2012). Sex on the bench: Do women judges matter to the legitimacy of international courts?. Chicago Journal of International Law, 12(2), 9.
Gulati, R., & Schoeffmann, P. (2023). UNCITRAL’s work in investor-state dispute settlement: Promoting the rule of law internationally?. In R. Gulati, T. John & B. Köhler (eds.). The Elgar Companion to UNCITRAL (pp. 140-160). Gloucestershire: Edward Elgar.
Haggard, S., MacIntyre, A., & Tiede, L. (2008). The rule of law and economic development. Annual Review of Political Science, 11(1), 205-234.
Haq, R., Klarsfeld, A., Kornau, A., & Ngunjiri, F. (2020). Diversity in India: Addressing caste, disability and gender. Equality Diversity and Inclusion: An International Journal, 39(6), 585-596.
Hayo, B., & Voigt, S. (2023). Judicial independence: Why does de facto diverge from de jure?. European Journal of Political Economy, 79, 102454.
Helmke, G., & Rosenbluth, F. (2009). Regimes and the rule of law: Judicial independence in comparative perspective. Annual Review of Political Science, 12(1), 345-366.
Henry, N., Vasil, S., Flynn, A., Kellard, K., & Mortreux, C. (2021). Technology-facilitated domestic violence against immigrant and refugee women: A qualitative study. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 37(13-14), NP12634-NP12660.
Higgins, J., & Altman, D. (2008). Assessing risk of bias in included studies. In J. Higgins & S. Green (eds.). Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions: Cochrane Book Series (pp. 187-241). West Sussex: John Wiley & Sons.
Hinds, L., & Murphy, K. (2007). Public satisfaction with police: Using procedural justice to improve police legitimacy. Australian & New Zealand Journal of Criminology, 40(1), 27-42.
Holmberg, S., Rothstein, B., & Nasiritousi, N. (2009). Quality of government: What you get. Annual Review of Political Science, 12(1), 135-161.
Jacobs, T., & George, A. (2021). Democratic South Africa at 25 - a conceptual framework and narrative review of the social and structural determinants of adolescent health. Globalization and Health, 17(1), 35.
Jasper, A. (2021). Diversity through bureaucracy: System judges and intersectional diversification of the Israeli judiciary. Law & Ethics of Human Rights, 15(2), 313-341.
Johndrow, J., & Lum, K. (2019). An algorithm for removing sensitive information: Application to race-independent recidivism prediction. The Annals of Applied Statistics, 13(1), 189-220.
Kahlmeter, A., & Bäckman, O. (2025). Justice by privilege? Social inequality in waivers of prosecution among youth. Journal of Criminal Justice, 101, 102497.
Kanbur, R., & Ronconi, L. (2018). Enforcement matters: The effective regulation of labor. International Labour Review, 157(3), 331-356.
Kanyajit, S., Nakpong, P., & Sokantat, N. (2018). Burmese Migrant Women and Access to Justice in Thailand. PSAKU International Journal of Interdisciplinary Research, 7(1), 286-299.
Karpowitz, C., Mendelberg, T., & Shaker, L. (2012). Gender inequality in deliberative participation. American Political Science Review, 106(3), 533-547.
Karvatska, S., & Toronchuk, I. (2021). The right to non-discrimination: Interpretive practice of the Ecthr. European Journal of Law and Public Administration, 7(2), 24-38.
Kim, J., & Kiesel, A. (2017). The long shadow of police racial treatment: Racial disparity in criminal justice processing. Public Administration Review, 78(3), 422-431.
King, R., Johnson, K., & McGeever, K. (2010). Demography of the legal profession and racial disparities in sentencing. Law & Society Review, 44(1), 1-32.
Limprasert, S. (2021). An inequality reduction in accessing Thai criminal justice process by community justice approach. Walailak Journal of Social Science, 14(3), 242365.
Lucy, W. (2011). Equality under and before the law. University of Toronto Law Journal, 61(3), 411-465.
Mahoney, I., & Chowdhury, R. (2021). Criminal justice and inequality: What can be done to reduce reoffending?. Nottingham: Nottingham Trent University.
Masaning, K., & Ua-amnoey, J. (2021). Miscarriage phenomenon in Thai society and government aid policy. Humanities and Social Sciences Journal of Pibulsongkram Rajabhat University, 15(1), 1-12.
Mazerolle, L., Bennett, S., Davis, J., Sargeant, E., & Manning, M. (2013). Legitimacy in policing: A systematic review. Campbell Systematic Reviews, 9(1), i-147.
Melton, J., & Ginsburg, T. (2014). Does de jure judicial independence really matter?. Journal of Law and Courts, 2(2), 187-217.
Metelska‐Szaniawska, K., & Lewkowicz, J. (2020). Post-socialist “illiberal democracies”: Do de jure constitutional rights matter?. Constitutional Political Economy, 32(2), 233-265.
MGR Online. (2012). Do the rich get away with hit-and-run incidents, only to receive suspended sentences? Are prisons only for the poor?!. Retrieved from https://mgronline.com/live/detail/9550000109547.
Murphy, K., Tyler, T., & Curtis, A. (2009). Nurturing regulatory compliance: Is procedural justice effective when people question the legitimacy of the law?. Regulation & Governance, 3(1), 1-26.
Naewna. (2020). Who are Thai prisons for? Thai prisons are for dogs. Retrieved from www.naewna.com/politic/columnist/44794.
Nagin, D., & Telep, C. (2017). Procedural justice and legal compliance. Annual Review of Law and Social Science, 13(1), 5-28.
Nazroo, J., Jackson, J., Karlsen, S., & Torres, M. (2007). The black diaspora and health inequalities in the US and England: Does where you go and how you get there make a difference?. Sociology of Health & Illness, 29(6), 811-830.
Ongsupankul, W. (2023). Development of the French notion of the rule of law (état de droit). Thammasat Law Journal, 52(1), 26-53.
Paschke, B. (2020). Slavery de jure and de facto: The United Nations’ definition of slavery and its incomplete Dutch translation in Belgium, the Netherlands, and Suriname. International Human Rights Law Review, 9(2), 324-329.
Penner, E., Viljoen, J., Douglas, K., & Roesch, R. (2014). Procedural justice versus risk factors for offending: Predicting recidivism in youth. Law and Human Behavior, 38(3), 225-237.
Reisig, M., Bratton, J., & Gertz, M. (2007). The construct validity and refinement of process-based policing measures. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 34(8), 1005-1028.
Rhodes, K., Savović, J., Elbers, R., Jones, H., Higgins, J., Sterne, J., … & Turner, R. (2019). Adjusting trial results for biases in meta-analysis: Combining data-based evidence on bias with detailed trial assessment. Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series A: Statistics in Society, 183(1), 193-209.
Rief, R., Lewis, R., & Applegarth, D. (2024). In pursuit of fairness: A research note on gender responsivity and racial bias in criminal justice actuarial risk assessments. Criminal Justice Policy Review, 36(1-2), 40-53.
Sánchez‐Rodríguez, Á., Willis, G. B., & Rodríguez‐Bailón, R. (2017). Economic and social distance: Perceived income inequality negatively predicts an interdependent self‐construal. International Journal of Psychology, 54(1), 117-125.
Schaap, D., & Scheepers, P. (2014). Comparing citizens’ trust in the police across European countries. International Criminal Justice Review, 24(1), 82-98.
Skeem, J., & Lowenkamp, C. (2020). Using algorithms to address trade‐offs inherent in predicting recidivism. Behavioral Sciences & the Law, 38(3), 259-278.
Smalarz, L., Eerdmans, R., Lawrence, M., Kulak, K., & Salerno, J. (2023). Counterintuitive race effects in legal and nonlegal contexts. Law and Human Behavior, 47(1), 119-136.
Stolzenberg, L., D’Alessio, S., & Eitle, D. (2013). Race and cumulative discrimination in the prosecution of criminal defendants. Race and Justice, 3(4), 275-299.
Thai PBS. (2023). Dismissed! Sunthorn-Kanokwan in Khao Yai forest encroachment case. Retrieved from www.thaipbs.or.th/news/content/331928.
Thomsen, F. (2018). Concept, principle, and norm—equality before the law reconsidered. Legal Theory, 24(2), 103-134.
Trinkner, R., & Cohn, E. (2014). Putting the “social” back in legal socialization: Procedural justice, legitimacy, and cynicism in legal and nonlegal authorities. Law and Human Behavior, 38(6), 602-617.
Tyler, T. (2005). Policing in black and white: Ethnic group differences in trust and confidence in the police. Police Quarterly, 8(3), 322-342.
U.S. Agency for International Development, U.S. Department of Defense, & U.S. Department of State. (2009). Security sector reform. Connections the Quarterly Journal, 9(1), 113-129.
Uggen, C., Vuolo, M., Lageson, S., Ruhland, E., & Whitham, H. (2014). The edge of stigma: An experimental audit of the effects of low‐level criminal records on employment. Criminology, 52(4), 627-654.
Uhrig, N. (2016). Black, Asian and minority ethnic disproportionality in the criminal justice system in England and Wales. London: Ministry of Justice Analytical Services.
United Nations. (1948). Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Unnithan, M., & Heitmeyer, C. (2014). Challenges in ‘translating’ human rights: Perceptions and practices of civil society actors in western India. Development and Change, 45(6), 1361-1384.
Velandia-Morales, A., Rodríguez‐Bailón, R., & Martínez, R. (2023). Normative effect of economic inequality: Empirical evidence about conspicuous consumption. Revista De Psicología Social, 38(2), 412-455.
Versteeg, M., & Ginsburg, T. (2017). Measuring the rule of law: A comparison of indicators. Law & Social Inquiry, 42(1), 100-137.
Ward, G., Farrell, A., & Rousseau, D. (2009). Does racial balance in workforce representation yield equal justice? Race relations of sentencing in federal court organizations. Law & Society Review, 43(4), 757-806.
Wooldredge, J., Frank, J., Goulette, N., & Travis, L. (2015). Is the impact of cumulative disadvantage on sentencing greater for black defendants?. Criminology & Public Policy, 14(2), 187-223.
Wu, J. (2016). Racial/ethnic discrimination and prosecution. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 43(4), 437-458.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Kittisak WONGMAHESAK, Puthisat NAMDECH, Kovit WONGSURAWAT
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
.png)
