Book Review: Das Menschenrecht auf Soziale Grundsicherung aus Art. 9 und Art. 11 ICESCR
| Date | 01 December 2015 |
| Published date | 01 December 2015 |
| DOI | 10.1177/138826271501700408 |
| Author | Constanze Janda |
| Subject Matter | Book Review |
Book Reviews
502 Intersentia
REFERENCES
F, S. (1998–1999) ‘A er Kala nke and Marschal l: A rming A rmative
Action’, Cambridge Yearbook of European Legal Studies, 1, 199–215 .
G, J.H. (2005) Judicial Review in Equal Treatment Cases, Leiden: Martinus
Nijho Publishers.
W, C .B. (1988) ‘Law and Se x’ [Review of Feminism Unmodi ed: Discourses on
Life and Law]. Michigan Law Review, 86(6), 1388–1403.
Luise Buschmann, Das Mensche nrecht auf soziale Gr undsicheru ng aus Art. 9 und
Art. 11 ICESCR, Münster : Agenda Verlag, 2013, 296 pages, ISBN 978–3–89688 –
505–0.1
International law and the constitut ions of many states contain provisions on social
human rights, such as t he right to social sec urity, the right to work, the rig ht to
decent living, hea lth, education and equal opportunit ies. However, the scope and the
binding force of such provisions are stil l under debate. Luise Buschmann contributes
interesting insights to t his academic discourse by ana lysing the right to social secu rity
in light of Articles 9 and 11 of the International Convenant on economic, socia l and
cultural r ights (ICescR).
e t wo articles overlap in their material scope of application: e right to social
security in A rticle9 ICescR comprises all statutor y bene ts that are awarded in the
case of the materiali sation of a social risk, to secure the minimum of subsistence, to
promote equality of opportunit y or to compensate for damages. By contrast, Ar ticle11
ICescR refers to the aim of secu ring the subsistence level, including the right to food,
clothing a nd accommodation. e author develops this distinc tion comprehensively
and in an international legal context. Her analy tical approach goes beyond common
legal methodology. She follows a rather empiric al approach: she encircles the material
scope of the right to social security by referring to the state reports that have to be
submitted to the Secretary General of the United Nations (Art icle16 ICescR) and
thus avoids being trapped in lega l concepts derived from her own nationa l legal
background.
e author’s aim is to disprove the commonly asserted di erence between civil
and political rig hts on one hand and economic, social and cu ltural rights on the
other and to rebut the argu ments that are put forward against socia l human rights. In
her introduction she points out the ‘myths’ that surround social human rights ‒ the
vagueness of their scope of applic ation, their lack of legal liability and thus t heir lack
of enforceability as well as t he high costs of their implementation.
1 A German version of t his review has be en published in Die Sozialgerichtsbarkeit (S Gb), iss ue
10/2015.
To continue reading
Request your trial