25 Judgment No. CCZ 2/18 Constitutional Application No. CCZ 86/15 It readily becomes apparent that retrospectivity of the effect of an obligation alone does not make it a source of infringement of the fundamental right. The right to equal protection of the law enshrined in s 56(1) of the Constitution does not prohibit legislative differentiation of people resulting from retrospective imposition of a new obligation on members of one class for the benefit of members of the other class, provided the classification is in respect of a legitimate purpose and is based on reasonable and objective criteria. In other words, such a retrospective differentiation of treatment of persons who are the subjects of the legislation can be undertaken by the Legislature without infringing the right to equal protection of the law enshrined in s 56(1) of the Constitution. Differentiation of treatment legitimately aimed at ameliorating the economic conditions of a disadvantaged group like employees whose contracts are terminated on notice without compensation for loss of employment cannot be held to be in contravention of s 56(1) of the Constitution simply because it is retrospectively imposed on the employers who terminated the employees’ contracts on notice. Article 26 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (“ICCPR”) recognises and protects the right to equal protection of the law by providing as follows: “All persons are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to the equal protection of the law. In this respect, the law shall prohibit any discrimination and guarantee to all persons equal and effective protection against discrimination on any ground such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status.” Commenting on non-discrimination as it relates to the right to equal protection of the law, the United Nations Human Rights Committee on the ICCPR in General Comment 18 adopted on 10 November 1989 stated as follows: