The Justiciability of Social and Economic Rights: An Updated Appraisal

CHRGJ Working Paper No. 15

36 Pages Posted: 19 Jul 2009 Last revised: 6 Jan 2010

See all articles by Aoife Nolan

Aoife Nolan

University of Nottingham - School of Law

Bruce Porter

Social Rights Advocacy Centre

Malcolm Langford

University of Oslo, Faculty of Law, Department of Public and International Law

Date Written: July 16, 2009

Abstract

In this paper, the authors consider the question of the justiciability of social and economic rights from both a conceptual and an experiential perspective. They first review some of the major concerns that are frequently raised in relation to whether social and economic rights can, or should be, adjudicated by courts, drawing on commentary from experts and judicial and quasi-judicial bodies considering this question. This is followed by an overview of the growing body of jurisprudence from domestic courts and regional and international bodies that have adjudicated social and economic rights. The authors thereby convey a better sense of how the adjudication of social and economic rights operates in practice, and the way in which courts and other bodies address the issues that have been raised with regard to the justiciability of these rights.

Keywords: Economic and Social Rights, Human Rights, Justiciability, Judicial Review, Progressive Realisation, Retrogressive measures, Minimum Core

Suggested Citation

Nolan, Aoife and Porter, Bruce and Langford, Malcolm, The Justiciability of Social and Economic Rights: An Updated Appraisal (July 16, 2009). CHRGJ Working Paper No. 15 , Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1434944

Aoife Nolan (Contact Author)

University of Nottingham - School of Law ( email )

University Park
Nottingham, NG8 1BB
United Kingdom

Bruce Porter

Social Rights Advocacy Centre ( email )

Canada

Malcolm Langford

University of Oslo, Faculty of Law, Department of Public and International Law ( email )

P.O. Box 6706 St. Olavs plass
N-0130 Oslo
Norway

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