Appendix II: The Maastricht Guidelines on Violations of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
| DOI | 10.1177/092405199701500211 |
| Author | Cees Flinterman |
| Published date | 01 June 1997 |
| Date | 01 June 1997 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
Appendix II: The Maastricht Guidelines on Violations
of
Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
Cees Flinterman'
Introduction
In 1986 the International Commission
of
Jurists, the Maastricht Centre for Human Rights
of
the University
of
Limburg (the Netherlands) and the Urban Morgan Institute for Human
Rights, College
of
Law, University
of
Cincinnati (Ohio, USA) convened a group
of
distinguished experts in international law to consider the nature and scope
of
the
obligations
of
States Parties to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and
Cultural Rights (CESCR). This meeting, which was attended, among others, by some
members
of
the then newly constituted ECOSOC Committee on Economic, Social and
Cultural Rights and by staff members of the United Nations and Specialized Agencies,
resulted in the adoption
of
the Limburg Principles on the Implementation
of
the
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. At the initiative
of
the
Netherlands Government, these Principles have been issued as an official United Nations
document (UN Doc. E/CNA/1987/l7, Annex); they have also been published in the
Human Rights Quarterly, Vol. 9, 1987, pp. 122-135 and in the Review
of
the International
Commission
of
Jurists, No. 37, December 1986, pp. 43-55.
Over the past 10 years economic, social and cultural rights have received more,
although certainly not yet sufficient, attention at the international governmental level. The
Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights has played a most constructive role
in this respect. Mention should also be made
of
the various studies in the field
of
economic, social and cultural rights undertaken by Special Rapporteurs appointed by the
United Nations Sub-Commission on Prevention
of
Discrimination and Protection
of
Minorities. In 1993, the World Conference on Human Rights in Vienna reaffirmed the
universality, interdependence and indivisibility
of
economic, social, cultural, civil and
political rights, and stressed the need for elaborating an Optional Protocol to the CESCR.
In this respect it is also relevant to mention a comprehensive report
of
the Netherlands
Advisory Committee on Human Rights and Foreign Policy on the issue
of
economic,
social and cultural rights (Advisory Report, No. 18, 1994), which was in general
favourably received by the Netherlands Government.
It
is clear that the monitoring of the progressive realisation
of
economic, social and
cultural rights is extremely complicated and requires an enormous amount
of
good quality
data. The view has been expounded that economic and social indicators should be
developed to assess progress in the realisation
of
economic, social and cultural rights. It
is certainly worthwhile to pursue this enquiry in light
of
the conclusions reached by a UN
Seminar on Appropriate Indicators to Measure Achievements in the Progressive
Realization
of
Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (UN Doc. A/CONF.157/PC/73
(1993». However, another potentially fruitful approach may be to focus on identifying
violations enumerated in the ESC-Covenant. The proposal to elaborate an Optional
Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights is based
on the same premise. The Limburg Principles made already an early start in identifying
the issue
of
violations
of
economic, social and cultural rights (Principles 70-73). In a
• Professor of International Law at Maastricht University, the Netherlands.
244
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