The European Social Charter 50 Years On: Commitment, Interpretation and Compliance

10 May 2012

Workshop

Considerable academic and public attention has been devoted to the European Convention on Human Rights in the recent years. For the most part, this has focussed on the legitimacy and purpose of judicial review of civil and political rights in the European context. Much less attention, however, has been paid to its sister human rights treaty, the European Social Charter, and the legitimacy and effectiveness of legal adjudication in the field of social rights in Europe.

The Social Charter is now fifty years old. Its adjudicatory body, the European Committee on Social Rights, has a mature roster of decisions focussing on a wide range of social and economic rights. Within the current background of economic recession and a mixed record of social rights protection in Europe, it is timely to  appraise the legitimacy of social rights, the commitment of European states to respecting them, and how they are interpreted and applied.

This half-day workshop will bring together a multi-disciplinary range of academics, researchers and practitioners interested in social policy, human rights and litigation in Europe to appraise social rights in Europe and the role of the European Social Charter fifty years on.

• Why do European states commit to the Social Charter?
• Are social rights decisions implemented in Europe?
• How should social rights be interpreted in the European context of welfare states?
• Are there any tensions between the European Social Charter and the socio-economic policies being currently implemented in Europe today?
• Does Europe need judicial review of social rights?
• What is the relationship between social rights and policy in the European context?
• What is the future of the European Social Charter?

The workshop is funded under the European Institute's Small Grants Scheme 2011-12.

Workshop Programme