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7 - Transforming Legal Theory in the Light of Practice: The Judicial Application of Social and Economic Rights to Private Orderings

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 July 2009

By
Helen Hershkoff
Edited by
Varun Gauri  and
Daniel M. Brinks
Varun Gauri
Affiliation:
The World Bank
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Summary

More than a half century ago the Universal Declaration of Human Rights defined education and physical well-being as human rights to “be protected by the rule of law.” Although a significant number of national constitutions now include language that embraces a right to education, to health, or to both, disease and illiteracy remain pervasive throughout the world. Almost a billion individuals, a sixth of the international population, cannot read; similar numbers lack access to health care or to potable water. These deprivations cause physical harm, undermine a person's sense of autonomy, and subvert democratic possibilities. Against this dismal background, skeptics question not only the conceptual foundation of social and economic rights, but also their strategic value in fostering improvement for the disadvantaged and dispossessed.

The current project examines a specific aspect of this problem: the extent and efficacy of using national courts to enforce constitutionally based claims to health and to education services. Focusing on five nations – Brazil, India, Indonesia, Nigeria, and South Africa – the project offers an ambitious account of institutional practices based on cross-disciplinary, comparative case studies that combine quantitative with qualitative analysis. The countries under discussion have all codified social and economic rights in their national constitutions and in some places have enacted legislation to effectuate these provisions. The preceding chapters do not revisit the wisdom or legitimacy of extending constitutional protection to health or educational services.

Type
Chapter
Information
Courting Social Justice
Judicial Enforcement of Social and Economic Rights in the Developing World
 , pp. 268 - 302
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2008

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