Dr Jonathan Ainslie and Dr Mitchell Lennan have contributed to a policy brief which distils insights on Equity from both national law and international arenas in terms of understanding what Equity means and how it has been conceptualised as a legal concept. The policy brief also puts forward suggestions on how this somewhat opaque concept might be effectively operationalised within the Pandemic Treaty.
The policy brief is a result of Dr Ainslie and Dr Lennan’s participation in the 'Equity in Global Health Law - towards a critical understanding' workshop at King’s College London on 27th March 2023. The workshop was organised by Dr Mark Eccleston-Turner (King's College London) & Dr Stephanie Switzer (University of Strathclyde) with the aim of offering policy relevant advice on operationalising equity within the Pandemic Treaty negotiations. The workshop was funded by the Scottish Council for Global Affairs and the ESRC IAA Policy Impact Fund.
In response to the widespread inequity witnessed during the COVID-19 pandemic, Member States of the World Health Organization (WHO) are currently negotiating a new international legal instrument - the Pandemic Treaty - intended to prevent pandemics and mitigate associated inequalities such as vaccine access, and improve compliance with international law during pandemic events.
From the initial proposal for the Treaty, it is clear that the new instrument is intended to be grounded in equity, with equity positioned as both an objective and as an operational output. However, while equity is recognised as a general principle of international law, it does not have a precise and defined meaning. From the start of negotiations, it was unclear what an instrument ‘grounded’ in equity should look like and what the principle of equity means in this context.
To address this uncertainty, the workshop at King’s College London was attended by experts on equity from different disciplinary backgrounds with a view to coming to an understanding and conceptualization of equity as a legal concept, charting its history, development, and application within both domestic and international law. The workshop was held under Chatham House rules. Dr Ainslie gave a presentation on the development of Equity in Domestic Law. Dr Lennan provided insights on Equity as it is found within the International Law of the Sea, particularly in the context of maritime boundary delimitation.
The workshop discussions found that equity must be more than an abstract buzzword - simply inserting the word equity into a legal text does not achieve equity. However, international law offers a number of lessons for responding to instances of inequity arising in the absence of a perfect, overarching functional definition of equity.
Any correspondence relating to this event or in respect of the policy brief should be addressed to stephanie.switzer@strath.ac.uk and mark.eccleston-turner@kcl.ac.uk
