The meaning of equality before the law includes three aspects: all citizens, regardless of nationality, race, sex, occupation, family background, religious belief, education level, property status and length of residence, enjoy the rights and perform the obligations stipulated by the Constitution and the law equally; The legitimate rights and interests of all citizens are equally protected, all illegal acts are investigated according to law, and no criminals are allowed to go unpunished; And before the law, no citizen is allowed to enjoy privileges outside the law, no one can force any citizen to assume obligations outside the law, and no citizen can be punished outside the law. Together, these three aspects are a complete understanding of the principle of equality before the law.

The slogan "everyone is equal before the law" was first put forward by the bourgeoisie in the anti-feudal struggle. As is known to all, feudal laws openly maintained rank and privilege. In the struggle against feudal autocracy, the bourgeoisie put forward the slogan of "everyone is equal before the law" and demanded the abolition of all rank and status privileges, which should be said to be a great progress and played an important role in overthrowing feudal autocracy. After the success of the bourgeois revolution, "everyone is equal before the law" was established as an important principle of the bourgeois democratic system and legal system, and it was determined in the form of the constitution. This provision is generally found in the constitutions or constitutional documents of various bourgeois countries. However, because the rule of the bourgeoisie is based on the capitalist relations of production, and its democratic system and legal system are based on the inequality of property possession, the legal equality it emphasizes masks the de facto inequality that people have in real life.