Opening speech by Ms. Kyung-wha Kang Deputy High Commissioner, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights to the Expert seminar: Implementation of the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights: future role of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

28 October 2009

 

Dear Committee members, experts and colleagues

 

I would firstly like to extend a warm welcome to you all for attending this very important expert seminar on the implementation of the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.

 

As you are aware, on 10 December 2008, the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the UN General Assembly in a historic move unanimously adopted the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. A month ago, on 24 September, the Optional Protocol was open for signature and ratification – since then, it has gathered 30 signatures, though there are no ratifications yet.

 

With the adoption of the Optional Protocol, the question is no longer whether economic, social and cultural rights are justiciable at the international level. The crucial questions now are - How are they made justiciable? What are the applicable standards? What are the best procedural arrangements for their proper adjudication? How can compliance with the views of the Committee best be ensured?

 

The purpose of this seminar is to support the Committee in preparations for its future work under the Optional Protocol. With that purpose in mind, we have tried to ensure the participation and contributions of different experts with considerable experience in adjudicating or in critically reflecting on the adjudication of economic, social and cultural rights to come and share their experience with the members of the Committee.

 

And we are very happy and honoured by the pool of experts that have agreed to participate in the seminar. We count amongst them - Justices from Supreme or Constitutional Courts, members of regional and international human rights bodies and agencies, academics and practitioners representing different regions of the world and different legal systems where the adjudication of economic, social and cultural rights is already a reality.

 

The seminar will focus on the substantive as well as procedural issues that arise in the adjudication of economic, social and cultural rights, and especially of complex cases involving the assessment of public policy measures from a human rights viewpoint. Questions to be addressed include the standards of review developed by different courts and adjudicative bodies to make such assessments, issues of evidence and the procedural arrangements through which such courts and bodies have availed themselves of sufficient information to make informed decisions in these areas.

 

In bringing together the distinguished experts, we have tried to reflect the experience of different regions and legal systems, and also the diversity of rights included in the Covenant. Three panels will focus on highlighting some of these experiences, while in the fourth panel we asked the speakers to choose one or two emblematic cases to provide a more detailed insight about how some of the general issues presented before were addressed in those specific decisions. We will hear about some of the examples of groundbreaking jurisprudence in such fields as health, housing, education, labour and social security – cases which were an important driving force for the adoption of the Optional Protocol itself.

 

On Friday, the members of the Committee will start discussing the necessary modifications to the Committee’s rules of procedures, in order to incorporate the new competencies granted by the Optional Protocol. In order to provide the Committee with a useful background, there will be a number of substantive presentations on how possibly to adapt your rules of procedures to the new tasks under the Optional Protocol in the most appropriate way.

 

I would like to welcome and thank the members of the Committee for being here and for arriving here earlier than their usual start of a busy session. Your participation – 16 out of 18 members are present – reveals the interest that the adoption of the Optional Protocol has created.

 

I would also like to thank our distinguished experts, many of whom came from far away, for accepting to participate in this seminar. Their experience and knowledge is an invaluable asset for the Committee and for OHCHR.

 

I am pleased to say that this seminar is the result of a joint effort of different divisions in OHCHR –the Research and Right to Development Division and the Human Rights Council and Treaties Division. I also want to thank them for their initiative and for their hard work in preparing for this seminar.

 

The seminar, I’m sure, will prove to be an important milestone for the further once economic, social and cultural rights. The Optional Protocol will start closing the legal protection gap for these rights in the international human rights system. I hope you will all join efforts to make this seminar a landmark in this process.

 

I wish you all a very fruitful seminar. Thank you.