Abstract
This article examines the status of economic, social and cultural (ESC) rights in Scotland and identifies routes to remedy for violations of these rights. ESC rights relate to areas such as housing, education, employment, standard of living and health. Violations of ESC rights impact on the most vulnerable in society. The mapping of rights conducted by the Scottish Human Rights Commission before the publication of the Getting It Right report revealed a legal deficit in the protection of ESC rights in Scotland. The evidence identified that protection mechanisms for socio-economic rights in Scotland are either insufficient or non-existent. This article builds on the evidence by exploring the legal nature of ESC rights: how they are currently protected in Scotland and how they are protected in other jurisdictions. It then examines the concept of a ‘remedy’ in international human rights law and proposes models for the better protection of ESC rights for potential future implementation in Scotland. This includes an examination of the risks and benefits in constitutionalising or legislating for ESC rights. This will be of interest to an international audience in terms of identifying justiciability mechanisms and models of constitutionalisation for ESC rights in different constitutional contexts, including Scotland.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 43-69 |
| Number of pages | 27 |
| Journal | International Journal of Human Rights |
| Volume | 22 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| Early online date | 27 Oct 2017 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2 Jan 2018 |
Funding
The authors would like to thank Dr Elaine Webster, Dr Jo Ferrie, the members of the Scottish Human Rights Commission Research Advisory Group and the anonymous reviewers for comments on earlier drafts. All errors remain the responsibility of the authors. The article draws on research that was partly funded by the Scottish Human Rights Commission in preparation for the report: Katie Boyle, ESC Rights in Scotland (Edinburgh, SHRC, 2015) http://www.scottishhumanrights. com/economic-social-cultural-rights/ and by research undertaken as part of the Economic and Social Research Council funded project, Human Rights in Transition: Impact for the UK in a Changing Europe (2016–2017).
Keywords
- constitutionalisation
- economic
- enforcement models
- justiciability
- remedy
- social and cultural rights
- Scotland
- legal deficit
- protection mechanisms
