Access to justice and the right to food: the way forward 2015, para. 28

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Paragraph text: While the ratification of the Optional Protocol to the Covenant represented a significant step in terms of ensuring justice for the victims of violations of economic, social and cultural rights, to date only 15 States are currently party thereto, in comparison with 115 parties to the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. This in itself is representative of the fact that many States have failed to develop a judicial culture of recognition in practice, or the necessary legal frameworks required to ensure that the rights enshrined in the Covenant, including the right to food, are justiciable. In some countries, it is the case that international human rights conventions are not considered as formal sources of law and, even where they may be incorporated into national law, these rights may not provide criminal punishment or financial compensations, but rather expresses a moral conviction without legal force. In some States, even when justiciable rights are enshrined in the Constitution, there is a reluctance to acknowledge their relevance. There is also certain reluctance at the regional level, with many European States failing to recognize the direct applicability of the Covenant in domestic law. In Africa, the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights provides no option for complaints relating to the violation of the right to food.

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Person(s) affected