Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights in International Law: Contemporary Issues and Challenges

Recent years have seen an expansion in the scale and importance of economic, social, and cultural rights within international law. This has led to the adoption of the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in December 2008, giving individuals and groups the ability to bring complaints about violations of these rights before the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. In this context, this book assesses how effective efforts have been to realise international ESC rights, investigating the contemporary challenges obstructing their protection. It investigates the impact of the global financial crisis, the need for ESC rights to be implemented in a non-discriminatory manner, and the interrelationship between ESC rights and other international legal regimes. It provides a careful analysis of the new tools and indicators available to measure the progressive realisation of ESC rights.

This book clarifies and illuminate the multiple aspects of the law governing ESC rights, by bringing together all the different aspects of ESC rights, re-stating the challenges they face, and assessing the progress that has been made in expanding their adoption. After an introduction by the editors on ESC rights and the contemporary issues in their realization, the book contains over twenty essays on the main issues related to the progressive realization of ESC rights and their monitoring mechanisms. The authors of the chapters, both scholars and practitioners, take an interdisciplinary approach to move beyond the traditional analysis of ESC rights, contextualizing their discussions against wider contemporary international law challenges. In reflecting this diversity of perspectives, the book sheds light on the new methodologies for implementation and the many obstacles faced by the realization of ESC rights. It is invaluable reading for scholars, students, practitioners, and NGOs working with or studying ESC rights.

Eibe Riedel, Professor of German and Comparative Public Law, and European and International Law, University of Mannheim,Gilles Giacca, Research Fellow, University of Oxford,Christophe Golay, Research Fellow and Joint Coordinator of the Project on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights

Eibe Riedel is Emeritus Chair of German and Comparative Public Law and European and International Law at the University of Mannheim, Germany, Swiss Human Rights Chair at the Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights, and a member of the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in Geneva. He studied law and theology at King's College London, and law at the University of Kiel. He obtained his Dr. iuris in 1974 and Dr. iur. habil. in 1983. He has been a Professor of Public Law and International Law at the University of Mainz, then at the University of Marburg, then at Mannheim. Prof. Riedel has recently been appointed a Judge at the Hague Court of Arbitration. He is a Director of the Inland Navigation Law Institute, and the Director of the Institute of Medical Law, Bioethics and Public Health. He was Pro-Vice Chancellor of the University of Mannheim from 1996-2000.

Dr Gilles Giacca is a Research Fellow at the Law Faculty and Co-ordinator of the Oxford Martin School Human Rights for Future Generations programme. He holds a MA from the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies (IHEID) in Geneva and a LLM from the University of Essex and holds a PhD in International Law from the University of Geneva and IHEID. Between 2006 and 2012, Gilles Giacca was teaching assistant and then research fellow at the Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian and Human Rights Law. Gilles has advised States, international organizations and NGOs on matters of international law. He has also provided training on international law to diplomats and practitioners. His teaching interests include the law of armed conflict and international human rights law.

Christophe Golay is Research Fellow and Joint Coordinator of the Project on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights at the Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights. From 2001 to 2008, he was the Legal Advisor to the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food. He teaches courses on ESC rights, the right to food, and human rights and development in different universities. He has published extensively on ESC rights in general and the right to food in particular.