Scottish Human Rights Law Group

Optional Protocal for the International Covenant on Economic, Social & Cultural Rights Treaty EVENT SET FOR 24 SEPTEMBER 2009

By Kasey Lowe

The United Nations General Assembly adopted the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights[1] in December 2008 on the occasion of celebrating the sixtieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights.  The fact that this protocol, once in force, would give the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights the competency to receive, evaluate and make recommendations regarding communications by alleged victims of human rights abuses covered by the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), sometimes referred to as Second Generation rights, seems an odd juxtaposition to the debate that has raged between human rights treaty bodies and sovereign states during the past four decades.  This debate began as a stand-off between States parties and the treaty bodies in whom had been vested the authority to review States parties’ implementation of the obligations set forth in human rights treaties.  However, slowly the tide appears to be turning in favour of increased recognition of treaty body competency.  Statements made during the 10 December 2008 General Assembly session noted the “pernicious crisis of lack of political will”[2] and the “gap in human rights protection under the international system”[3] plaguing the realisation of universal recognition of human rights to date.  The delivery of the Optional Protocol is meant to reverse these problems as it is viewed as a return to the unified vision of human rights as set forth in the celebrated Universal Declaration of Human Rights.[4]

The official treaty event whereby the UN will host States wishing to ratify the Optional Protocol is set for 24 September 2009.  One of 160 States parties to the ICESCR, the United Kingdom ratified the treaty in 1976, eight years after signing.  Though human rights treaty ratification by the UK is commendable, recognition of the competency of treaty bodies to receive individual complaints has been all but stagnant.  This gap in the international system is a major obstacle in the campaign to turn legal rights into realities for millions around the globe.  To date, the UK has only recognised the individual communication mechanism of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women and its recognition was declared an ‘experiment’ as the government fails to see the ‘practical value’ of such bodies.[5]

Next week will reveal the UK’s willingness to lead by example in the effort to close the gap in the protection of human rights in the international system and ratify the Optional Protocol…even if, in the eyes of the government, it is only an experiment.

The text of the Optional Protocol can be found here.

[2] Martin Ihoeghian Uhomoibhi, President of the Human Rights Council, Statement to the UN General Assembly at its 65^th plenary meeting.  UN Doc. A/63/PV.65, 10 December 2008, at. 4.

[3] Navanethem Pillay, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Statement to the UN General Assembly at its 65^th plenary meeting.  UN Doc. A/63/PV.65, 10 December 2008, at 6.

[4] Louise Arbour, Statement to the Open-ended Working Group on an optional protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights during its Fifth session, 31 March 2008.

[5] See National Report Submitted in Accordance with Paragraph 15(a) of the Annex to Human Rights Council Resolution 5/1, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, UN Doc. A/HRC/WG.6/1/GBR/1, p. 5, para. 19.