Economic Rights

Economic rights have traditionally been referred to as part of the second generation of human rights, together with social and cultural rights. Indeed, the traditional classification of human rights is as follows: Economic rights include the right to work, the right to the free choice of employment and to just and favourable conditions of work; the right to form and join trade unions: the right to strike; the right to social security; and the right to own property.

Contrary to civil and political rights, which are immediately applicable and essentially based on the prohibition of States from doing something (i.e., resort to torture, take actions that curtail freedom of speech, freedom of religion, or the right to vote, etc.), economic rights tend to be considered as requiring States to take action, usually in the form of specific legislation, policies or programmes, so those rights can be realised. The realisation of those rights is seen as progressive: “full economic, social, and cultural rights can be achieved only gradually. Resources and time may be required” [1], though international legislation clearly states that full rights should be reached over time, and that States have a legal obligation to take immediate and continued action to do so. Moreover, any action, whether legal or political, taken to diminish existing protections and levels of realisation of these rights should be prohibited.

All human rights are indivisible, interdependent and interrelated, and the fulfillment and protection of one right affects that of others. This is true among all rights and among or within specific categories of rights. For instance, economic rights are closely linked to social and cultural rights. The right to work, for example, is connected to that of ensuring minimum standards of living, etc. Just as the distinction between civil and political rights is sometimes blurred, the difference between economic, social, and cultural rights is not always obvious. For example, the right to education has been considered by different experts as an economic, social or cultural right.

In international human rights law, the realisation of economic rights is provided for in Chapter IX of the UN Charter and in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR), the International Labour Organisation, and various regional documents.

The CESCR is monitored by the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, which is composed of independent experts appointed by the United Nations. The Committee is responsible for monitoring the implementation of the Covenant by its States Parties. They are required to submit regular reports on how they are implementing these rights. Such information is provided through self-reporting and thus may be limited. The reports provided are examined by the Committee, which then elaborates “concluding observations” in which it addresses its potential concerns and recommendations. To date, the Committee is not enabled to consider individual complaints against States Parties, though a draft Optional Protocol, under consideration, could provide the Committee with the jurisdiction to do so [2].

1. McChesney, A., Promoting and Defending Economic, Social and Cultural rights, AAAS/HURIDOCS, Washington DC, 2000, p. 18.

2. For further information, please refer to the website of the OHCHR, http://www.ohchr.org/english/bodies/cescr/index.htm