V
t
l nt: 1 1
despite claims that both sets of rights are of equal importance and
interdependent, civil and political rights are more solidly established
under international and national law. 33 Economic and social rights
generally have a programmatic nature and are not always directly
justiciable to the same extent as civil and political rights. 34 Yeshanew
defines justiciability as rights being "subjected to a judicial or quasijudicial procedure of enforcement. 3 5 Scheinin argues that "the problem
relating to the legal nature of economic and social rights does not relate
to their validity but rather to their applicability. 3 6 The central question
of economic and social rights therefore lies in their enforcement or
justiciability. However, the Optional Protocol to the International
Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights entered into force on
May 5, 2013, which thereby recognized the political acceptance by states
of their justiciability. 3 Further, the European Committee of Social
Rights examines more and more collective complaints. Additionally, the
body of case law in domestic jurisdictions is growing substantially. 38
The UN ESCR Committee developed in General Comment no. 3 the
concept of a minimum core of each economic and social right that every
individual should enjoy. It argued that:
[A] minimum core obligation to ensure the satisfaction
of, at the very least, minimum essential levels of each of
the rights is incumbent upon every State party. Thus, for
example, a State party in which any significant number
of individuals is deprived of essential foodstuffs, of
essential primary health care, of basic shelter and
housing, or of the most basic forms of education is,
prima facie, failing to discharge its obligations under the
Covenant. If the Covenant were to be read in such a way
as not to establish such a minimum core obligation,
it
39
would be largely deprived of its raison d'8tre.
33EIDE, supra note 31 at 22.
34Id.
35SISAYA. YESHANEW, THE JUSTICIABILITY OF ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RIGHTS IN
THE AFRICAN REGIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS SYSTEM 37 (2013). See also JUSTICIABILITY OF
ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RIGHTS, (F. Coomans ed. 2006). See also MALCOLM
LANGFORD,
SOCIAL
RIGHTS
JURISPRUDENCE:
EMERGING
TRENDS
IN
INTERNATIONAL
AND
COMPARATIVE LAW (2008).
36 EIDE, supra note 31 at 22; see also Christian Courtis, Standards to Make ESC Rights
Justiciable:A Summary Exploration,2 ERASMUS L. REV. 379 (2009).
37Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights,
Doc.A/63/435; C.N.869.2009.TREATIES-34,
II
December
2009,
<http://treaties.un.org/Pages/ViewDetails.aspx?src=TREATY&mtdsgno=lV-3a&chapter-4&lang-en> last visited May 15, 2013.
M. Craven & M. Langford, The InternationalCovenant on Economic, Social and Cultural
Rights, Rev'd Edition (Oxford University Press, forthcoming 2014). Katherine G. Young and Julieta
Lemaitre, The Comparative Fortunesof the Right to Health: Two Tales ofJusticiabilityin Colombia
and South Africa 26 HARV. HUM. RTS. J. 181, 181 (2013). Fons Coomans, Justiciabilityof the Right
to Education, 2 ERASMUS L. REV. 427, 427-43 (2009).
39 Comm. on Econ., Soc. and Cultural Rights, General Comment 3, The Nature of States
Parties' Obligations 5th session, 1990, U.N. Doc. E/1991/23, annex III at 86 (Dec. 14, 1990)
[hereinafter CESCER General Comment 3].