Economic, Social and Cultural Rights Are Not Legal Rights, But Mere Aspirations

Table of Contents

Introduction1

Discussion3

Economic, Social and Cultural Rights Assumptions6

Protection of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights under the Charter8

Who Is Responsible?9

Conclusion10

Economic, Social and Cultural Rights Are Not Legal Rights, But Mere Aspirations

Introduction

The right to economic activity includes a number of rights, providing the opportunity to start and conduct business. A person has the right to conduct economic activities and can create enterprise under his own risk and responsibility freedom to enter into agreements with other entrepreneurs to acquire and dispose of property. No government agency has right to dictate to an entrepreneur, what products it must produce and what should be the price of it (if the limits are not regulated by law). An entrepreneur himself hires and fires employees in compliance with labour laws, administers own profit.

At the same time, this right is subject to certain restrictions. State prohibits certain kinds of economic activity (production of weapons, manufacturing orders, and other related trade) and makes such activities with special permissions (licenses). The State regulates the export and import, which imposes certain restrictions to many enterprises. Finally, state authorities may require the employer to the financial statements, without affecting the trade secrets. These and other restrictions are necessary in the interests of the entire national economy but must rely on the legislative framework. Issues related to implementation of law on economic activity are regulated by a large number of legislative acts, and, above all, the Civil Code (Alston et al. 2009).

At the time of adoption of Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, the United Nations General Assembly had not made any attempts for classifying or restricting the kinds of rights that must be included within such instrument. It consists of all such rights that are considered to be essential for securing the dignity and worth of every person. These rights consisted of all general rights that related to rights related to society and politics; for instance, the right to live, freedom of expressing, and ESC rights. Economic, social and cultural rights (ESC) included the right to work, education and for participating in life related to culture.

The initial plan was aimed at transforming the aspiration of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights into a single entity, which would become legally binding on country. However, it became a victim of the cold war politics. It resulted in the division between the western and communist States, and the United Nations was forced for drafting two separate treaties for accommodating the political realities. As a result, the separate entity was created and it is now known as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the charter is based on this institute; whereas, it was also based on the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR). Therefore, the difference between the two sets of rights is largely artificial. In order to identify a right, the right must be assessed to know that whether it is included in ...