The Case for Social Rights

Abstract

Abstract This chapter investigates the counter-intuitive and paradoxical position for someone opposed to the constitutional entrenchment of rights, namely that the entrenchment of rights is incomplete without more rights: social and economic rights to complement civil and political rights. It defines social rights as the kind of rights that complement civil and political rights and are to be found expressed in a number of international treaties and national institutions. It also evaluates the state violations of social rights. It notes that among the important institutional reforms of recent times is the Human Rights Act 1998. It talks about the constitutional protection of social rights. It argues that social rights serve an important constitutional function, in the sense that they bring life and give meaning to the constitutional principles of liberty and equality.