Abstract
The human rights framework for economic, social, and cultural rights across the globe is composed of several systems, both at the international and regional levels. Part of the European system is the European Social Charter (ESC), a treaty and wide-ranging and comprehensive legal instrument adopted in 1961 under the auspices of the Council of Europe (CoE). The significance of this instrument is that it was one of the first international human rights treaties to include a comprehensive list of social rights, although its state obligations and monitoring mechanisms were weaker than those in the system of the European Convention on Human Rights, its counterpart treaty for civil and political rights. Nevertheless, several developments over time made improvements in this area. In 1991, an Amending Protocol to the ESC enhanced the supervisory mechanism, while a system of collective complaints was introduced in 1995. The Revised European Social Charter (RESC) was adopted in 1996 with some additional rights. The European Committee on Social Rights (ECSR) is the quasi-judicial body that monitors state compliance with the provisions of the ESC whose independent authority and jurisprudence has developed in recent decades.
In that context, the book under review provides a systematic analysis of each Article of the RESC. After a rather short introduction to the history, the evolution, main characteristics, supervisory procedures and implementation of the ESC, the author, Karin Lukas, a leading expert in legal research on economic, social, and cultural rights and long-standing member and current president of the ECSR, explains the methodology used for this project, including the sources of information and interpretation as well as the common structure of analysis for each right (Part I).
Part II scrutinises the substantive provisions of the RESC, essentially by considering the case law of the ECSR. The common structure of the analysis of each substantial right comprises five elements. First, a brief introduction puts each provision into context and explains the hierarchy and interrelationship with other rights of the RESC. The introduction is followed by a section on indicative interlinkages with other relevant international and European standards (such as the ILO and United Nations Conventions, the European Charter of Fundamental Rights, the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, EU Directives and Regulations, the European Convention on Human Rights and other CoE Conventions, and also EU policies and WHO standards) and their implementation by the respective monitoring and enforcing bodies. These include the CESCR General Comments, the Court of Justice of the European Union and the European Court of Human Rights jurisprudence. A separate section is then dedicated to the drafting history and evolution of the wording of each RESC provision. This section details the (un)accepted reformulations of paragraphs, and considerable alterations including the separation of Articles from original versions and consolidation of the final order of paragraphs, the introduction of new provisions, and the drafting revision process. The role of several stakeholders in the drafting process is also highlighted, such as the involvement of the Committee of Independent Experts and the Committee of Ministers. Fourth, the interpretation of the ECSR on a sentence-by-sentence basis is analysed extensively and the obligations of the states are concretised. The interpretation begins usually with an analysis of the personal scope followed by a more comprehensive review of the material scope. Moreover, this analysis covers the evolution of the ECSR case law by comparing past and recent decisions, pointing out inconsistencies as well as overlapping provisions of the RESC and how these are applied. Therefore, the book goes beyond a mere codification of the case law as available in the Decisions and Conclusions of the ECSR and facilitates the research of the interpretation of each provision by the ECSR vertically in substance and time. Finally, each chapter wraps up with certain trends and conclusions providing a short- as well as longer-term perspective of the evolution of each provision. In this part, the wide or limited ratification of each provision is highlighted, along with the accompanying reasons for that outcome.
The extent of the analysis depends on how elaborate and detailed the case law of the ECSR is. For some Articles, such as Art. 1, the right to work, a central or foundational right which other social rights build upon; or Art. 12, the right to social security, a cornerstone of the European social rights framework and one of the most complex rights of the Charter, a considerable body of the case law of the ECSR exists. Moreover, on Articles that are formulated in a generic way, such as Art. 16 on the right of the family to social, legal, and economic protection, or which have a broad nature, such as Art. 17 on the right of children and young persons to social, legal, and economic protection, extensive case law of the ECSR is available. On the other hand, for newly-introduced Articles the existing case law is limited. This is, for instance, the case in respect of Art. 23, which is the first human rights treaty standard to specifically protect the rights of elderly persons.
Part III of the book is not very lengthy and examines selected procedural provisions of the RESC following the same structure as that in the analysis of the substantive provisions in Part II.
Although the book lacks a conclusive chapter, this is counterbalanced by the concluding paragraphs included in each subsection, analysing the individual substantive and procedural Articles. In addition, the mainstreaming of the broader concept of human rights based on the notion of human dignity, which is reflected in the chapter on the methodology, is presented explicitly only in certain cases, such as in the examination of Art. 11 on the right to protection of health, or Art. 23 on the right of elderly persons to social, legal, and economic protection. Overall, the book achieves its aim as phrased in the introductory chapter, which is to contribute to a more comprehensive understanding of the social rights in Europe by state authorities and other human rights contributors, and to bridge the gap between the lack of research on the ESC and the need to enhance the enforcement of social rights. Through its compact format, the book is appropriate for a broad range of professionals working in the field of social rights, not only legal practitioners but also policymakers and officials of state authorities, civil society, and academics.
