Introductory Note to the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
International Legal Materials, Vol. 48, 2009
20 Pages Posted: 23 Apr 2009 Last revised: 27 Jun 2009
Date Written: April 22, 2009
Abstract
This Introductory Note to the publication in ILM of the newly-adopted Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (OP-ICESCR) seeks to put the primary source document in proper context by briefly explaining its history, content, and significance in international law. The Note is accompanied by the text of the OP-ICESCR, adopted by the U.N. General Assembly on December 10, 2008 to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The OP creates an individual complaints procedure for alleged violations of the ICESCR, rectifying a thirty year asymmetry in human rights treaty law.
Keywords: human rights, treaties, adjudication, international law, international instruments, social rights
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation