Social Rights Against the Poor

ICL Journal ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Carlos Portugal Gouvêa
Keyword(s):  
Economic Inequality ◽  
Right To Health ◽  
Economic Rights ◽  
Constitutional Protection ◽  
Class Actions ◽  
Current State ◽  
The Poor ◽  
The Right ◽  
Social And Economic Rights

AbstractThe main argument of this work is that the discourse of social and economic rights in Brazil has been appropriated by privileged economic groups with the result that the constitutional protection of those rights is no longer carrying out its function to reduce economic inequality. This article will be divided into three parts. The first is a discussion of the historic context of patrimonialism in Brazil as well as the origins of economic inequality in the country. The second part is devoted to the theoretical debate surrounding the con­stitutional protection of social and economic rights in light of what is often referred to as ‘new constitutionalism’, along with an interpretation of the structure for protecting social and economic rights that is present in the Brazilian constitution. The third part consists of a case study of the current state of the judicialization of the right to health in Brazil, with special attention to free concession of medicine and the new legislation on the subject. In conclusion, the paper argues that judicial decisions on the right to health, in particular, and social and economic rights, in general, have been formalistic, with little regard to their (often negative) distributive impact. The solution is then not to move from individual litiga­tion to collective litigation (eg class actions), but to move from an ‘individual rights’ approach to a ‘distributive’ approach, which takes into account the effects of court decisions not only with respect to the parties involved but also to the rights of the poorest of the poor.

scholarly journals Women's Rights, Human Rights and the Criminal Law or, Feminist Debates and Responses to [De]Criminalization and Sexual and Reproductive Health

2018 ◽  
Vol 112 ◽  
pp. 87-90
Author(s):  
Aziza Ahmed
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Criminal Law ◽  
Health Workers ◽  
Right To Health ◽  
Health Campaigns ◽  
Economic Rights ◽  
Marginalized Communities ◽  
The Right ◽  
Cautionary Tales ◽  
Social And Economic Rights

My comments today seek to highlight how social and economic rights advocates, particularly those concerned with the right to health, engage with ongoing debates about the role of criminal law in human rights. In particular, I emphasize how many “right to health” campaigns fight for the decriminalization of laws that result in the arrest of marginalized communities or health workers. This trend within right to health advocacy complicates what has been called the anti-impunity turn in human rights. In other words, although many scholars have correctly highlighted the rise of a carceral agenda in human rights, there is also ongoing, and perhaps growing, emphasis on decriminalization in the context of social and economic rights. This presentation gives a brief overview of the fight for decriminalization in the context of the right to health, highlights the challenges faced by advocates of in those campaigns, and reflects on some cautionary tales emerging from these fights for decriminalization.

The Importance of Convention Status: A Case Study of the UK

2001 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 15-24 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alice Bloch
Keyword(s):  
Asylum Seekers ◽  
Economic Rights ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Status ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Refugees And Asylum Seekers ◽  
Social And Economic Rights

Convention status accords refugees social and economic rights and security of residence in European countries of asylum. However, the trend in Europe has been to prevent asylum seekers reaching its borders, to reduce the rights of asylum seekers in countries of asylum and to use temporary protection as a means of circumventing the responsibility of long-term resettlement. This paper will provide a case study of the United Kingdom. It will examine the social and economic rights afforded to different statuses in the areas of social security, housing, employment and family reunion. It will explore the interaction of social and economic rights and security of residence on the experiences of those seeking protection. Drawing on responses to the crisis in Kosovo and on data from a survey of 180 refugees and asylum seekers in London it will show the importance of Convention status and the rights and security the status brings.

Articulating key obligations of states to persons deprived of liberty under a right to health framework: the Philippine case study

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lee Edson P. Yarcia ◽  
Jan Michael Alexandre C. Bernadas
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
Right To Health ◽  
The Philippines ◽  
The State ◽  
Policy Reforms ◽  
Physical And Mental Health ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Right

Purpose This paper aims to examine key obligations of states to persons deprived of liberty (PDLs) under the right to health framework in the context of COVID-19. As a case study, it also describes the state of health in places of detention in the Philippines during the pandemic, with an end view of providing granular recommendations for prison policy reforms. Design/methodology/approach Relevant rules under international human rights law related to places of detention were thematically analyzed to articulate the scope of the right to health of PDLs. To describe the state of places of detention in the Philippines, this paper relied on archival research of news from selected local mainstream and specialized media. Findings The right to health framework provides a foundation for the response to COVID-19 in places of detention. Key concerns include increase in the number of infections, vulnerabilities in physical and mental health, and the spread of infection among correctional staff. Long-standing structural constraints and limited health information compound the threat of COVID-19. The Philippines must comply with its human rights obligations to PDLs to effectively address COVID-19-related concerns. Practical implications Policy reforms in Philippine places of detention must include application of community standards on physical and mental health, implementation of emergency release and application of non-custodial measures for long-term prison decongestion. Originality/value This is one of the few papers to analyze human rights in health care in places of detention during a pandemic, as nuanced in the context of the Philippines.

Thomas Piketty’s Historical-Institutional Study of Wealth and Income Inequality

2020 ◽  
Vol 46 (7-8) ◽  
pp. 1311-1325
Author(s):  
John Eustice O’Brien
Keyword(s):  
Income Inequality ◽  
Environmental Responsibility ◽  
Market Regulation ◽  
Minor Variation ◽  
Economic Rights ◽  
Neoliberal Capitalism ◽  
The Poor ◽  
The World ◽  
The Right ◽  
Thomas Piketty

In his Capital and Ideology, Thomas Piketty (2019) deepens and broadens his historical and material analysis of the institutional sources of wealth and income inequality. Fueled by an expanded data base, he extends his position to cover the globe. In his earlier work, he disavowed Kuznets, demonstrating that under néoliberal capitalism, concentration of wealth continues at the top of the economic ladder, while indifferent to the suffering among those at the bottom. With his data he demonstrates that the problem of inequality is due only partly to capitalism as technical machine, and moreso to the way governments facilitate it in favor of their elites. This occurs thanks to an informal and unchallenged ideological consensus, that the wealthy have earned the right to their advantage, as have also–in negative terms, the poor. Without major restructuring, this is the inevitable yield under the ‘regimes of inequality’, which with minor variation today characterize all major nations around the world. As alternative, he proposes a participative-socialism, with modification concerning the nature of property, its distribution and ownership, supported by alterations in market regulation, economic rights, worker participation in enterprises, education, citizen engagement and environmental responsibility.

scholarly journals Some thoughts on socio-economic rights

2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 43
Author(s):  
GE Devenish
Keyword(s):  
Health Care Services ◽  
Comprehensive Treatment ◽  
Bill Of Rights ◽  
Economic Rights ◽  
Care Services ◽  
Reading Material ◽  
The Social ◽  
Housing Rights ◽  
The Right ◽  
Social And Economic Rights

One of the manifest differences between the Bill of Rights in the interim and the 1996 Constitutions is the more comprehensive treatment of social and economic rights in the latter.1  In addition to the social and economic rights of children contained in section 28(1)(c), education in section 29 and detained persons' rights in section 35(2)(e), Chapter 2 of the 1996 Constitution encapsulates "an entirely new set of rights not foreshadowed in the interim Constitution".2  These relate essentially to housing rights, set out in section 26, and rights protecting health care services, food, water and social security contained in section 27. Certain other provisions also contain socio-economic rights.  So, for example, section 25(5) redistribution of land, section 28, children's rights, section 29, education, section 35(2)(c), the right to a legal practitioner, section 35(2)(e), detainees rights to adequate accommodation, nutrition, reading material and medical treatment.

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