A/69/299 II. Justiciability of the right to health 5. While the enforcement of the right to health has made great strides since the development of the right to health framework, justiciability of the right remains contested. The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights confirms the justiciability of economic, social and cultural rights generally, but does not elaborate on their justiciable components. 1 All the components of the right to health are justiciable and courts have adjudicated on and enforced the specific obligations of the right to health. 6. Economic, social and cultural rights have historically been accorded less attention than civil and political rights, given that they have erroneously been seen as non-justiciable because of alleged inherent differences between the two sets of rights. Initially, only one international human rights covenant, containing both civil and political rights and economic, social and cultural rights, was envisaged. When it came to drafting that unified instrument, however, the Commission on Human Rights believed that the nature of the rights were different and convinced the General Assembly of the necessity of two separate covenants ( A/2929, chap. II, para. 9). The rationale was that “[civil and political rights] were rights of the individual ‘against’ the State, i.e., against unlawful and unjust action of the State ”, while economic, social and cultural rights required States to take positive action (ibid., para. 10). 7. The division between both sets of rights is artificial, given that there is no intrinsic difference between them. Both may require positive actions, are resource dependent and are justiciable. The requirement to take “necessary steps” in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (art. 2 (2)) is a positive obligation that requires time and resources ( A/56/55, paras. 21-23). For example, the right to a fair trial requires States to provide courtrooms, trained professionals and other resources that require time, money and expertise to develop. The Human Rights Committee states that the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights imposes both negative and positive obligations on States. 2 Civil and political rights were assumed to be justiciable and immediately enforceable because the necessary infrastructure and the means of enforcement already existed when the covenants were drafted. 8. The Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action stresses the indivisible, interdependent and interrelated nature of the two sets of rights. This is reinforced by the necessity of the realization of one to fulfil the other. For example, ensuring equal treatment of men and women in all spheres of their lives, such as the right to found a family, contained in article 23 (2) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, cannot be achieved unless the right to sexual and reproductive health of women is realized by ensuring their right to access health facilities, goods and services. 3 9. Dignity underlies all human rights and was included in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and both covenants. In its resolution 421 (V) E, the General Assembly recognized that dignity requires full enjoyment of both civil and political rights and economic, social and cultural rights. Some domestic and regional __________________ 1 2 3 4/22 General comment No. 9 (1998), para. 10. Human Rights Committee, general comment No. 31 (2004), paras. 6-8. Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, general comment No. 14, para. 14. 14-59014