Unravelling the knot of equality and privacy in the European court of human rights and the US Supreme Court: From Isonomia to Isotimia

Abstract

This article proposes a framework for understanding the interaction between the right to equality and the right to privacy. It does so with specific reference to the case law of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) and the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS). First, the different origins of equality and privacy, as well as the link between these two concepts, are traced in theory. Second, examples are drawn from the case law of the ECtHR and SCOTUS, with a view to illustrating the exact parameters of the interaction between equality and privacy in practice. This doctrinal analysis focuses mainly on the issue of the legal treatment of same-sex relationships. Third, the ancient Greek notion of isotimia is put forward as a way to unravel the knot created by equality and privacy - that is, as a way to understand properly their relationship.