Part Two The Doctrine and Practice of the Inter-American System, 14 Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights

Subject(s):

Indigenous peoples — Civil and political rights — Right to health — Gross violations — Children, rights

This chapter reviews the legal framework for the protection of economic, social, and cultural rights (ESCR) in the inter-American system. It highlights the emerging standards for determining violations and impermissible regression on ESCR under Article 26 and the Additional Protocol to the American Convention on Human Rights in the Area of Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights. It considers indirect means of litigating ESCR in the inter-American system via other Articles of the American Convention, examining the system’s jurisprudence where ESCR have intersected with children’s rights, the right to health, indigenous rights, and civil and political rights. The chapter concludes by considering the role of litigation in campaigns for social justice in Latin America, as well as the additional mechanisms available to the Commission and Court to monitor, protect and promote the realization of ESC rights.