New decisions under the Optional Protocol

The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights has recently published its latest individual communication decisions following its 69th session (Feb-March 2021). The Committee made a total of 20 decisions in the session, including 3 merits decisions, 1 inadmissibility decision and 16 discontinuance decisions.

GI-ESCR's page on the Jurisprudence of the CESCR has been updated to reflect these decisions, with brand new summaries of each key decision and new analysis of the latest trends in the Committee's work under the Optional Protocol.

GI-ESCR’s Individual Communication Guide has also been updated to account for the latest updates to the Committee’s advice and working methods. For example, it now includes the Committee’s recently published individual complaints form and guidance note.

Call for contributions to draft general comment on Land and Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights has now published its draft General Comment on Land and Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. Interested individuals and organisations have been invited to provide comments on the draft, which may be accessed here (English).

Contributions are to be written in one of the Committee’s working languages (English, French or Spanish) and limited to five pages. They should be sent in Word format to cescr-land@ohchr.org, indicating in the subject “Written contributions – GC on land and ICESCR”. The deadline is Tuesday, 27 July 2021.

The Committee's call for contributions may be accessed here.

Invitation for Comments on Draft Rules of Procedure

The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights is in the process of revising its Rules of Procedure under the Optional Protocol to the ICESCR. It has recently published a Draft of its Revised Rules of Procedure and has invited interested individuals and organisations to submit written comments on the Draft.

One of the most interesting components of the Draft is Rule 20, which would introduce a Pilot Views procedure that is similar in nature to the Pilot Judgment Procedure of the European Court of Human Rights. In the context of the Committee's growing backlog, it is hoped that the introduction of a Pilot Views procedure would enable a systemic solution to communications that are indicative of an underlying structural problem.

The Draft Revised Rules of Procedure are available in: English, Français, Español.

The Committee's call for written contributions may be accessed here.