The Council of Europe, the European Convention on Human Rights and the Social Charter

Abstract

Chapter 3 provides a critical perspective on the establishment of the Council of Europe and its development of human rights mechanisms amongst Western European powers during the Cold War. It discusses attempts to address the lack of coverage of social and economic rights in the ECHR, with the development of the European Social Charter and the Committee of Social Rights and looks at the Council of Europe’s differing approaches to civil and political rights (and the jurisdiction of the European Court of Human Rights) and the social and economic rights contained in the Social Charter (with oversight by the Committee of Social Rights). It outlines some of the strengths and weaknesses relating to enforcement and realisability of these differing sets of rights.