Conclusion

There is now an extensive body of global and European law governing discrimination and, although particular elements of it have their own specific focus, it is clearly moving in the same general direction. This is true not only of the grounds of prohibited discrimination but also of the understanding of what is entailed by discrimination, how it can be proved and the limited circumstances in which it can be justified. The commonality evident in global and European standards, as well as the interpretation of them afforded by international and regional tribunals, provides a clear indication as to what is required of the national law, both as to the scope of formal guarantees and the arrangements needed to give effect to them.