A "Violations Approach" for Monitoring the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

The author of this article argues that if economic, social, and cultural rights are to be taken seriously, a change is needed in the paradigm for evaluating compliance with the norms established in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR). This article reviews the problems that the current performance standard of"progressive realization" entails for monitoring economic, social, and cultural rights, and proposes a "violations approach" as a more feasible and effective alternative. The violations approach advocated by the author focuses on three types of violations: (1) violations resulting from actions and policies on the part of governments; (2) violations related to patterns of discrimination; and (3) violations taking place due to a states' failure to fulfill the minimum core obligations contained in the ICESCR. In order to illustrate examples of violations of the rights enumerated in the ICESCR, the article analyzes several years of reports by the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. [Descriptors: Applying Human Rights Law - International, International]