Social Rights

Today, in the Human Rights building in Strasbourg, the President of the European Committee of Social Rights, Aoife Nolan, and the President of the European Court of Human Rights, Mattias Guyomar together with other judges from the ECHR and ECSR members, met in a joint event dedicated to the protection and advancement of fundamental human rights in Europe.

The protection of human rights requires not only their legal recognition, but also their effective enjoyment in practice. The European Convention on Human Rights and the European Social Charter constitute key, complementary pillars of the Council of Europe human rights protection system.

In contemporary Europe, the pursuit of equality and dignity for all remains a fundamental objective and challenge. This is particularly true with regard to gender and disability discrimination, which contribute directly to the inequalities and social exclusion experienced by many in Europe.

Reflecting this reality and their status as core elements of the European human rights framework, the rights of persons with disabilities and the principle of gender equality have featured prominently in the work of both the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) and the European Committee of Social Rights (ECSR).

The President of the ECSR in her speech underlined : “...our respective systems are distinct yet deeply complementary and our work is intertwined. Reflecting this, the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights has the work of the European Committee of Social Rights across decades, most directly in contexts where both bodies have addressed the same issues through the respective lenses afforded by their different mandates and mechanisms. Today gives us a unique opportunity to come together and celebrate our jurisprudential dialogue that is based on our shared commitment to rights that are practical and effective rather than purely theoretical and illusory".

Speakers and participants at the event included also,  Tatiana Puiu and George Theodosis, ECSR Vice-Presidents; Kristīne Dupate, General Rapporteur of the ECSR; Mario Vinković and Kristina Koldinská, ECSR Members; as well as Ivana Jelić, ECtHR Vice-President and Judge elected in respect of Montenegro; Ioannis Ktistakis, ECtHR Section President and Judge elected in respect of Greece; Kateřina Šimáčková, ECtHR Section President and Judge elected in respect of the Czech Republic; Raffaele Sabato, Judge elected in respect of Italy; Frédéric Krenc, Judge elected in respect of Belgium; Diana Sârcu, Judge elected in respect of the Republic of Moldova; and Oddný Mjöll Arnardóttir, Judge elected in respect of Iceland.

The meeting was an opportunity to take a closer look at the respective, complementary mandates and jurisprudence, of the ECSR and the ECHR as well as the impact of their work, in terms of the pressing human rights issues in Europe.