Exploring the Right to Social Security

Abstract

The right to social security has been recognised as a fundamental human right in Article 22 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights 1984 (UDHR), which provides that everyone is assured to a right to social security and is entitled to its realisation through national effort and international co-operation, albeit subject to the resources of the state. Within European human rights law, the right to social security can be found in the European Social Charter, Articles 12 and 13. The European Committee of Social Rights recognises the right to social security as an individual right. For students seeking HRM dissertation help, understanding the legal frameworks and international perspectives on social security is crucial. The European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) as such does not include in its list of substantive rights, the right to social security; however, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has recognised that many of the civil and political rights that are provided in the ECHR do have implications that are social and economic in nature”. There are many dimensions to social security that are manifested in the more common type of social security programmes related to old-age, disability and survivors’ pension, work related injury, and maternity to name a few. One of the key challenges related to provision of social security is related to the lack of coverage of the right in all regions, as the universal right only benefits a small minority in practice. This essay will focus primarily on three challenges related to the enforcement of the right, which are related to social health protection coverage, unemployment protection schemes and social assistance. Further, this essay will draw conclusions on the challenges and prospects for the future application of the right of social security.

Structure

1. Introduction

This essay aims to address the core questions related to the meaning and application of the right to social security enshrined in Article 22 of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights (UDHR). The right to social security is linked to freedom from want and the right under Article 22 is also placed within the broader contexts of freedom from want. The ECtHR has also developed some jurisprudence on the right to social security under Article 6 (1), which relates to determination of civil rights and obligations. A number of judgments by the ECtHR have linked Article 6(1) to social security rights. Therefore, the core question raised here is linked to the nature of the right of social security under the ECHR jurisprudence as developed by the ECtHR by linking it back to the Article 22 rights under the UDHR. The broader contexts of freedom from want, which is intended to ensure equitable access to material resources are also a part of this discussion. The introduction section will refer to the literature on right to social security and the broader contexts of freedom from want. The gaps in the literature will be identified, particularly in the linking of right of social security to the ECHR jurisprudence. This section will also describe and justify the research methodology adopted.

2. The meaning of Social security under the ECHR

This section provides an overview of Article 22 of the UDHR and also the way the ECtHR has interpreted this right under the ECHR provisions, particularly Article 6(1). The meaning of the right to social security can be explained under the UDHR as well as the ECHR; however, the explanation of this right under the latter is a limited one because the ECtHR is more concerned with the procedural contexts of access to trial under Article 6(1) under which at times it has allowed petitions that are linked to social security. The UDHR on the other hand, provides the actual dimensions of the right of social security in Article 22, for which reason this provision will remain the principle mode of explaining the right of social security and then comparing it to the jurisprudence developed by the ECtHR.

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1. G. Gori, “Domestic Enforcement of the European Social Charter: the way forward”, in G. de Burca and B. de Witte, Social Rights in Europe (Oxford University Press 2005) 83.
2. Airey v. Ireland, 9 October 1979 (Application No. 6289/73).
3. Judgments in Nibbio v. Italy, Borgese v. Italy, Biondi v. Italy, Monaco v. Italy and Lestini v. Italy, 26 February 1992; Judgments in Salesi v. Italy, 26 February 1993, and Schuler-Zgraggen v. Switzerland, 24 June 1993.

3. The challenges faced in enforcing the right

This essay will focus primarily on three challenges related to the enforcement of the right, which are related to social health protection coverage, unemployment protection schemes and social assistance. The principle challenge related to the enforcement of the right of social security is that it is based on the resources available to the state. The UDHR itself links the provision of the right of social security to the available resources. Within the ECHR jurisprudence the challenge for enforcing this right may lie in the use of the doctrine of ‘margin of appreciation’ or ‘margin of discretion’. This allows states to use national conditions as a ground to deviate from the rights under the ECHR, which may be related to national security, morality, religious feelings. ECtHR has also linked margin of appreciation to economic or social conditions of the state.

4. Challenges and prospects for the future application of the right

This section will identify the future challenges for the interpretation of the right to social security. One of the challenges could be the continuing dimensions of social security against the background of slowing economies, which may stress the economic resources of the states and prevent them from guaranteeing high levels of social security rights like health protection coverage.



5. Conclusion

The concluding section will relate to the conclusions drawn from the main body of the essay which takes into account literature and case law developed by the ECtHR. The conclusion will also emphasise on the challenges for the application of the right in the future as economies may slow down.

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Feedback requests

1. Am I right in taking on both the UDHR principles contained in Article 22 and the right to social security under the Strasbourg jurisprudence? Would this be too wide a field for me to cover?

2. How much balance is required within the structure between challenges and future challenges? I am thinking that the former would need to be covered to a greater degree.

3. Am I right to use the ‘margin of appreciation’ jurisprudence in the context of right to social security?

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4. G Letsas, ‘Two Concepts of the Margin of Appreciation’ (2006) 4 Oxford Journal of Legal Studies 705.
5. Rasmussen v. Denmark, judgment of 28 November 1984 (Application No. 8777/79).

Bibliography

Books

Gori G, ‘Domestic Enforcement of the European Social Charter: the way forward’ in G. de Burca and B. de Witte, Social Rights in Europe (Oxford University Press 2005).

Journals

Letsas G, ‘Two Concepts of the Margin of Appreciation’ (2006) 4 Oxford Journal of Legal Studies 705.