A/HRC/34/51/Add.2 II. Legal framework A. International human rights law 17. Internationally, Portugal is a champion of international human rights law, in particular with regard to economic, social and cultural rights, and is party to most core international human rights treaties. In 1978, it ratified the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights provides for the right to an adequate standard of living, including housing (art. 11), and for the right to non-discrimination and equality (arts. 2 and 3). Article 2.1 guarantees the progressive realization of all rights making use of the State’s maximum of available resources with a view to ensuring the enjoyment of the right to adequate housing and other human rights. 18. In 2013, Portugal became one of the first countries to ratify the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, which provides for an international individual complaint mechanism for violations of the rights in the Covenant, in particular the right to adequate housing. 19. Portugal ratified the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women in 1980, the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination in 1982, the Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1990, and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the Optional Protocol thereto in 2009 (E/C.12/PRT/4). 20. Consequently, Portugal has binding international human rights obligations to protect the enjoyment of the right to adequate housing without discrimination on any ground, to avoid retrogressive measures, and to provide mechanisms for access to effective remedies and justice in relation to these rights. B. Constitutional law 21. Article 65 of the Constitution of Portugal is a progressive provision that enshrines the right to adequate housing, stating that “everyone has the right, for himself and his family, to have an adequately sized dwelling that provides hygienic and comfortable conditions and preserves personal and family privacy”. It establishes the responsibilities of the State in the areas of (a) programming and implementation of housing policy, within urban plans that “guarantee the existence of an adequate network of transport and social facilities”; (b) the promotion of the construction of low-cost and social housing in cooperation with local authorities; (c) stimulus for both home ownership and rentals; and (d) support for community initiatives to resolve housing problems, including the creation of self-building cooperatives. Article 65 concludes with a description of the need for the State to adopt a policy establishing “a rental system that is compatible with family incomes and that provides access to individual housing”. 22. Surprisingly, Portugal does not, despite such a strong constitutional provision, have corresponding legislation, such as a national housing framework law. The Special Rapporteur was informed by some government officials that this had not obstructed the existence of adequate housing policies in the country. She was led to believe that, instead of adopting overarching legislation, the system is characterized by the approval of concrete policies articulated among each other in all sectors, and that the housing sector was not an exception. Civil society organizations, and some local government officials and academics, were of the opinion that the lack of framework legislation guiding the implementation of 6