Annex 2. Tool box: References to fundamental material on ESC rights 

Circle of rights

• Economic, Social and Cultural Rights Activism: A Training Resource at: http://www1.umn.edu/humanrts/edumat/IHRIP/circle/toc.htm

UN and Special Procedures

• General comments

General comments of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) accessible at: http://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/treatybodyexternal/TBSearch.aspx?Lang=en&TreatyID=9&DocTypeID=11

• Optional Protocol (OP) to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) OP- ICESCR accessible at: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/ProfessionalInterest/Pages/OPCESCR.aspx

Oficina del Alto Comisionado de las Naciones Unidas para los Derechos Humanos en Guatemala, Capacitación Técnica en Litigio Estratégico en Derechos Humanos de los Pueblos Indígenas Componente de Justicia del Programa Maya II, Manual Litigo Estratégico: “Estrategia General para los litigios de Alto Impacto”, accessible at: http://www.ohchr.org.gt/documentos/programaMAYA/ANEXO2.pdf

• CESCR in general

OHCHR CESCR page accessible at: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/CESCR/Pages/CESCRIndex.aspx

CESCR working methods accessible at: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/CESCR/Pages/WorkingMethods.aspx

CESCR Internal Rules of Procedure accessible at: http://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/treatybodyexternal/TBSearch.aspx?Lang=en&TreatyID=9&DocTypeID=65

• Special Procedures

List on Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council specialized in the area of ESC rights accessible at: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/SP/Pages/Themes.aspx

• Human Rights Indicators

OHCHR, Human Rights Indicators: A Guide to Measurement and Implementation, accessible at: http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Publications/Human_rights_indicators_en.pdf

• Human Rights Impact assessment

UN Guiding principles on human rights impact assessments of trade and investment agreements, Report of the Special Rapporteur on the right to food, Olivier De Schutter, UN doc. A/HRC/19/59/Add.5 (2011) accessible at: http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/HRBodies/HRCouncil/RegularSession/Session19/A-HRC-19-59-Add5_en.pdf

UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights: Implementing the United Nations “Protect, Respect and Remedy” Framework, UN doc. A/HRC/17/31 (2011), accessible at: http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/Business/A-HRC-17-31_AEV.pdf

• UN agencies

Information paper of the FAO Economic and Social Development Department on the “Recognition of the right to food at the national level” accessible at: http://www.fao.org/docrep/meeting/007/j0574e.htm#P1060_44517

References to useful databases

International/global

• ESCR-Net accessible at: http://www.escr-net.org/caselaw
• HuriSearch (human rights search engine) accessible at: https://www.huridocs.org/hurisearch/
• Universal Human Rights Index (database on Treaty Bodies, Special Procedures and the Universal Periodic Review) accessible at: http://uhri.ohchr.org/
• Human Rights Library of the University of Minnesota (database on decisions from regional and UN human rights bodies and international criminal tribunals) accessible at: http://hrlibrary.ngo.ru/index.html
• INTERIGHTS Commonwealth and International Law Database accessible at: http://www.interights.org/commonwealth-and-international-law-database/index.html
• WorldCourts (database of decisions from the UN, African and Inter-American human rights bodies and international courts and tribunals) accessible at: http://worldcourts.com/
• Oxford Reports on International Law (International and Domestic Court decisions) accessible at: http://opil.ouplaw.com/home/oril
• Westlaw accessible at: http://web2.westlaw.com/signon/default.wl?vr=2.0&fn=_top&__mud=y&rs=WLW14.04&bhcp=1

Regional

• IHRDA African case law database accessible at: http://caselaw.ihrda.org/
• Decisions of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights accessible at: http://www.achpr.org/communications/decisions/
• Decisions of the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights accessible at: http://www.african-court.org/en/index.php/2012-03-04-06-06-00/all-cases-and-decisions
• Collective Complaints to the European Committee on Social Rights accessible at: http://www.coe.int/t/dghl/monitoring/socialcharter/Complaints/Complaints_en.asp
• Decisions of the European Court of Human Rights accessible at: http://hudoc.echr.coe.int/sites/fra/Pages/search.aspx#
• CODICES (Database on the Constitutional Case law of the Venice Commission) accessible at: http://www.codices.coe.int/NXT/gateway.dll?f=templates&fn=default.htm
• Decisions of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights accessible at: http://www.oas.org/en/iachr/decisions/cases_reports.asp
• Decisions of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights accessible at: http://www.corteidh.or.cr/index.php/jurisprudencia

National

• Constitutional Court of South Africa, accessible at: http://www.constitutionalcourt.org.za/site/judgments/judgments.htm
• Constitutional Court of Colombia, accessible at: http://www.corteconstitucional.gov.co/relatoria/
• Supreme Court of El Salvador, accessible at: http://www.jurisprudencia.gob.sv/visormlx/
• Supreme Court of India, accessible at: http://judis.nic.in/supremecourt/chejudis.asp

References to International doctrine and expert legal documents

• Maastricht Guidelines on Violations of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (1997) and Limburg Principles on the Implementation of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, UN Doc. E/CN.4/1987/17 (1986) accessible at: http://icj.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/1997/01/economic-social-and-cultural-rights-compilation-thematic-report-1997-eng1.pdf or see annex 3.
• Tshwane Principles, Global Principles on National Security and the Right to Information (2013), accessible at: http://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/sites/default/files/global-principles-national-security-10232013.pdf

References to NGO work on

Justiciablity of ESC rights

• ICJ Justiciability Study (accessible in English, French and Spanish) at: https://www.icj.org/courts-and-the-legal-enforcement-of-economic-social-and-cultural-rights/

Access to Justice – ICJ Studies on Access to Justice

• Access to Justice for social rights in Morocco accessible (in French and Arabic) at: https://www.icj.org/new-icj-study-on-access-to-justice-for-economic-social-and-cultural-rights-in-morocco/
• Access to Justice for social rights in El Salvador accessible (in Spanish) at: https://www.icj.org/new-icj-study-analyses-obstacles-preventing-salvadorians-to-access-justice-effectively/
• More Access to Justice studies are accessible at: https://www.icj.org/category/publications/access-to-justice-human-rights-abuses-involving-corporations/

Optional Protocol

• Commentary on the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, published by the ICJ and the Inter-American Institute of Human Rights in 2010 (available in English, Spanish and French) accessible at: https://www.icj.org/comentario-del-protocolo-facultativo-del-pacto-international-de-derechos-economicos-sociales-y-culturales-commentary-to-the-optional-protocol-on-economic-social-and-cultural-rights/
• OP-ICSESCR Coalition at: http://op-icescr.escr-net.org/
• The Global Initiative for ESCR at: http://globalinitiative-escr.org/advocacy/strategic-litigation-under-the-international-covenant-on-civil-and-political-rights/
• ESCR-Net Guide: Claiming Women’s ESC Rights Using OP-CEDAW and OP-ICESCR accessible at http://www.escr-net.org/node/365157

ESC rights and the role of lawyers

• Bangalore Declaration and Plan of Action (1995) accessible at: http://icj.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/1997/01/economic-social-and-cultural-rights-compilation-thematic-report-1997-eng1.pdf

Right to remedy and reparation

• ICJ Practitioners Guide No.2 on the right to a remedy and to Reparation for gross human rights violations accessible (in English, French, Spanish, Arabic, Thai) at: https://www.icj.org/the-right-to-a-remedy-and-to-reparation-for-gross-human-rights-violations/

Migration

• ICJ Practitioners Guide No.6 on migration and international human rights law accessible (in English and Italian) at: https://www.icj.org/practitioners-guide-on-migration-and-international-human-rights-law-practitioners-guide-no-6/

Discrimination on the ground of sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI)

• ICJ SOGI UN caselaw database accessible at: https://www.icj.org/sogi-un-database/
• ICJ SOGI casebook accessible at: https://www.icj.org/sogi-casebook-introduction/
• ICJ legislative database accessible at: https://www.icj.org/sogi-legislative-database/
• ICJ SOGI Publications accessible at: https://www.icj.org/category/publications/?theme=sexual-orientation-and-gender-identity

Monitoring

• OPERA framework of the Center for Economic and Social Rights accessible at: http://cesr.org/section.php?id=179

Documentation of violations

• HURIDOCS Open Evsys: a free and open source database application for documenting violations, accessible at: https://www.huridocs.org/openevsys/

Litigation

• HURIDOCS Casebox: support for litigation NGOs which are looking for an integrated and web-based application to manage their caseload, accessible at: https://www.huridocs.org/casebox/

Other useful civil society websites: http://www.childrightsconnect.org/index.php/connect-with-the-un-2/op3-crc

http://ratifyop3crc.org/

References to academic work on

Obligations under the ICESCR

• Magdalena Sepúlveda, The Nature of the Obligations Under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, Intersentia, 2003.

Justiciability and ESC rights litigation

• A. Nolan, B. Porter and M. Langford, “The Justiciability of Social and Economic Rights: An Updated Appraisal”, New York University center for human rights and global justice, Working Paper No. 15, 2007, accessible at: http://www.chrgj.org/publications/docs/wp/NolanPorterLangford.pdf
• Bruce Porter, “Justiciability of ESC Rights and The Right to Effective Remedies: Historic Challenges and New Opportunities” in Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the Optional Protocol to the ICESCR, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Beijing, 2008.
• Bruce Porter and Martha Jackman, “Justiciability of Social and Economic Rights in Canada” in Malcolm Langford (ed.), Social Rights Jurisprudence: Emerging Trends in Comparative International Law, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2008, accessible at: http://www.socialrights.ca/domestic-political/documents/cambridge.pdf
• International Commission of Jurists, Courts and the Legal Enforcement of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. Comparative Experiences of Justiciability, Human Rights and Rule of Law Series No. 2 (2008), accessible at: http://icj.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/Courts-legal-enforcement-ESCR-Human-Rights-Rule-of-Law-series-2009-eng.pdf
• Malcolm Langford, Social Rights Jurisprudence: Emerging Trends in Comparative and International Law, Cambridge UP, Cambridge, 2008.
• Malcolm Langford, “Judging Social Rights”, Human Rights Tribune, 11(3), 2005, accessible at: http://www.hri.ca/pdfs/HRT%20Volume%2011,%20No.3%20Autumn%202005.pdf
• Malcolm Langford and Aoife Nolan, Litigating Economic, Social and Cultural Rights: Legal Practitioners Dossier, Center on Housing Rights and Evictions, 2006, accessible at: http://www.cohre.org/store/attachments/COHRE%20Legal%20Practitioners%20Dossier.pdf
• Malcolm Langford and Bret Thiele (eds.), Litigation of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights: The State of Play, The University of New South Wales Press, Sydney, 2005.
• M. Langford, B. Thiele, and J. Squires (eds.), Road to a Remedy: Current Issues in Litigation of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (Sydney: UNSW Press, 2005), accessible at http://209.240.139.114/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/The-Road-to-a-Remedy.pdf
• M. Langford, C. Rodriguez and J. Rossi (eds.), Making it Stick: Compliance with Social Rights Judgments in Comparative Perspective, Pretoria University Law Press, Capetown, 2014.
• Sandra Liebenberg, “The protection of economic and social rights in domestic legal systems”, in Economic, Social and Cultural Rights: A Textbook, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, The Hague, 2001.
• Sandy Liebenberg and Karrisha Pillay, Socio-economic Rights in South Africa: A Resource Book, Community Law Centre (University of Cape Town), 2000.

Spanish

• Magdalena Sepúlveda, “La justiciabilidad de los derechos económicos, sociales y culturales frente a la supuesta dicotomía entre las obligaciones impuestas por los pactos de Naciones Unidas”, en Cantón, O. y Corcuera, S. (coords.). Derechos económicos, sociales y culturales. Ensayos y materiales, México: Universidad Iberoamericana, Porrúa, 2004, pp. 109–148.
• Malcom Langford (ed.), Teoría y jurisprudencia de los derechos sociales: Tendencias incipientes en el derecho internacional y comparado, Universidad de los Andes and Siglo del Hombre Editores, Bogotá, 2012.
• Martín Abregú and Christian Courtis (eds.), La aplicación de los tratados sobre derechos humanos por los tribunales locales, Editores del Puerto, 2004.
• Víctor Abramovich and Christian Courtis, Derechos sociales: instrucciones de uso, Fontamara, 2003.
• Víctor Abramovich and Christian Courtis, El umbral de la ciudadanía: el significado de los derechos sociales en el Estado social constitucional, Editores del Puerto, 2006.
• V. Abramovich, C. Courtis and L. Ferrajoli, Los derechos sociales como derechos exigibles, Vol. 2, Trotta, Madrid, 2002.

French

• Diane Roman, Justiciabilité des droits sociaux: vecteurs et resistances, Editions A. Pedone, Paris, 2012.

Optional Protocol

• Geneva Academy, The Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, accessible at: http://www.geneva-academy.ch/docs/publications/Briefings%20and%20In%20breifs/The%20optional%20protocol%20In%20brief%202.pdf

Conceptual development of the content of ECS rights

• On the right to work: R. Sastre Ibarreche, El derecho al trabajo (Madrid: Trotta, Madrid, 1996)
• On the right to health: B. Pezzini, “Principi costituzionali e politica della sanità: il contributo della giurisprudenza costituzionale alla definizione del diritto sociale alla salute”, and M. Andreis, “La tutela giurisdizionale del diritto alla salute”, in: C.E. Gallo and B. Pezzini, (comps.), Profili attuali del diritto alla salute (Milano: Giuffrè, 1998).

Reasonableness and resource implications

• B. Griffey, The‘ Reasonableness’ Test: Assessing Violations of State Obligations under the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, in Human Rights Law Review 11:2 (2011), pp.275-327.
• B.Porter, The Reasonableness of Article 8(4)- Adjudicating Claims from the Margins, Nordic Journal for Human Rights, Vol.27, No.1, 2009, pp.39-53.

Procedural issues

• R. de C. Mancuso, Açao Civil Pública, Ed. Revista dos Tribunais, São Paulo, 1999, pp. 46–55
• M.F.M. Leal, Açoes Coletivas: História, Teoria e Prática, Porto Alegre: Sergio Fabris, 1998, pp. 187–200.

Relevance of criminal law for ESCR

• Evelyne Schmid, “Taking Economic, Social and Cultural Rights Seriously in International Criminal Law”, Cambridge Studies in International and Comparative Law, Cambridge University Press, forthcoming 2014.

Maastricht Principles on Extraterritorial Obligations of States in the area of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

• De Schutter, O. Eide, A. Khalfan, A. Orellana, M. Salomon, and I. Seiderman, “Commentary to the Maastricht Principles on Extraterritorial Obligations of States in the Area of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights”, Human Rights Quarterly, 34(4), 2012, pp. 1084-1169, accessible at: https://www.icj.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/HRQMaastricht-Maastricht-Principles-on-ETO.pdf
• On hypothetical cases: R. Künnemann, “Extraterritorial Application of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, in Coomans, Fons, and Menno T. Kamminga (eds.), Extraterritorial application of human rights treaties. Vol. 2. Intersentia, Antwerp, 2004; and Gibney, Mark, and Wouter Vandenhole (eds), Litigating Transnational Human Rights Obligations: Alternative Judgments, Routledge, 2013.

Law clinics at university offering support in preparing and accompanying litigation

• Northwestern University, Law School, Center for International Human Rights, USA. Contact details: Bluhm Legal Clinic, Northwestern University School of Law, 375 East Chicago Avenue, Chicago, IL 60611-3069, Phone: +1 312.503.8576, Fax: +1 312.503.8977, Email: legalclinic@law.northwestern.edu; further details at: http://www.law.northwestern.edu/legalclinic/about/contact.html
• Cornell University, Law School, USA. Information for potential clients at: http://www.lawschool.cornell.edu/Clinical-Programs/international-human-rights/potential-clients.cfm; contact details at: http://www.lawschool.cornell.edu/Clinical-Programs/Contact-us.cfm, Susan Tosto, Clinical Programs Administrator, 152 Myron Taylor Hall, Phone: +1 (607) 254-5186, Email: sjt29@cornell.edu
• The University of Texas and Austin, School of Law, USA. Contact details at: http://www.utexas.edu/law/clinics/humanrights/contact_us.php, Ted Magee, Administrator, Phone: +1 (512) 232-5304, Email: tmagee@law.utexas.edu
• UFR Droit – Université Paris 8, France. Contact details at: http://lacliniquejuridique.fr/contact. UFR Droit – Université Paris 8, Bureau A218, 2, rue de la Liberté 93526 Saint-Denis Cedex, Phone: +33 01.49.40.65.29, Email: lacliniquejuridique@gmail.com)
• Heinrich Heine Universität Düsseldorf, Juristische Fakultät, Germany. Contact details at: http://www.jura.hhu.de/hilfe/fall-melden.html
• University of Warsaw, Faculty of Law and Administration, Contact details at: http://en.wpia.uw.edu.pl/9,Centre_of_Law_Advice.html

Useful contacts/links

UN Treaty Bodies

• List of the United Nations Treaty Bodies receiving complaints accessible at: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/TBPetitions/Pages/IndividualCommunications.aspx#ftn1

Information on submission of a complaint to a Treaty Body accessible at:

• http://ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/SP/Pages/Communications.aspx
• http://ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/TBPetitions/Pages/HRTBPetitions.aspx
• United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Economic, Social and Cultural Rights – Handbook, accessible at http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Publications/training12en.pdf

European Court of Human Rights and European Committee on Social Rights

• Information on applications to the Court accessible at: http://www.echr.coe.int/Pages/home.aspx?p=applicants

• Information on the Collective Complaint Procedure of the European Committee on Social Rights accessible at: http://www.coe.int/t/dghl/monitoring/socialcharter/OrganisationsEntitled/OrganisationsIndex_en.asp

African Commission and Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights

• Information on the submission of communications to the Commission accessible at: http://www.achpr.org/communications/procedure/, http://www.achpr.org/communications/guidelines/

• Information on applications to the Court accessible at: http://www.african-court.org/en/index.php/component/content/article/13-cases-from-court/22-submission-of-cases-to-the-court

Inter-American Commission and Court on Human Rights

• Information on presenting a complaint before the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights accessible at: https://www.cidh.oas.org/cidh_apps/instructions.asp?gc_language=E

https://www.cidh.oas.org/cidh_apps/login.asp, http://www.oas.org/en/iachr/mandate/Basics/fund.asp, http://www.corteidh.or.cr/index.php/en/court-today/denuncias-consultas

Strategic Litigation

• ESCR-Net strategic litigation initiative and strategic litigation working group (for pool of experts and litigation support) accessible at: http://www.escr-net.org/node/365113, http://www.escr-net.org/docs/i/465879

On ETO cases

• •Maastricht Principles on Extraterritorial Obligations of States in the area of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (2011), accessible at: http://www.etoconsortium.org/en/library/maastricht-principles/

• •ETO Consortium web page at: http://www.etoconsortium.org/