Understanding Forgotten Rights

Abstract

The right to the continuous improvement of living conditions sits alongside the right to an adequate standard of living in Article 11(1) of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR). Despite over 40 years of enforcement of ICESCR, there has been a dearth of engagement with the right by the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) and by scholars. In this chapter I will examine the key factors that have resulted in the right to the continuous improvement of living conditions being ‘forgotten’. Throughout the chapter analogies are drawn with the right to play, widely regarded as a ‘forgotten’ right, in order to evidence and support the claims made. I will argue that a focus on a minimum core ‘set’ of rights has resulted in the right to continuous improvement of living conditions being overlooked and risks a perception of the right as a luxury right. This chapter will demonstrate why this must not be the case, drawing upon the principle of human dignity and its centrality to the human rights project to justify greater attention being offered to the right. I will argue that advocacy and awareness raising by scholars, non-governmental organisations and the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights are important to overcome the possible perception of the right as a luxury. I will then discuss the ambiguity of human rights. I acknowledge that there are some benefits and potentials in ambiguity in the drafting of human rights treaties, including achieving wide ratification of treaties and the temporal flexibility of human rights, prior to examining challenges posed by ambiguity and a lack
of conceptual clarity. Ambiguity can, however, undermine the implementation and realisation of rights in the ways intended by drafters of human rights treaties, and it threatens the enforceability and justiciability of human rights. There is a considerable threat that ambiguous rights may be forgotten, and this chapter highlights the ways in which the inherent lack of conceptual clarity of the right to the continuous improvement of living conditions has led to the right being overlooked by the CESCR, States Parties to the ICESCR and scholars. In light of this discussion, I will reflect on the importance of conceptual clarity and the particular need to develop such clarity for rights that have previously been ‘forgotten’, such as the right to the continuous improvement of living conditions.
In order to redress the ‘forgotten’ nature of the right, meaningful engagement with the right must follow, by the CESCR and scholars alike, to provide greater conceptual clarity

Keywords: forgotten rights, neglected rights, ambiguity, ambiguity of human rights, human rights, socio-economic rights, right to play, right to continuous improvement of living conditions, understanding human rights, conceptual clarity, human dignity, dignity, children's rights, luxury rights