equal before the law

Syllable breakdown

Dictionary meaning

the foundational legal principle that all persons are subject to the same laws and entitled to the same legal protections regardless of social status, wealth, ethnicity, religion, gender, or political power; the principle of equality before the law is codified in virtually every modern constitution and international human rights instrument, including Article 7 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights; in practice the gap between the formal principle and its realisation is often wide: the wealthy can afford better legal representation, powerful interests can shape the laws that govern them, and systemic biases in law enforcement and judicial systems produce unequal outcomes along racial, gender, and class lines; the aspiration expressed in the phrase continues to serve as a standard against which these inequalities can be measured and challenged