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The right to life and the right to adequate housing: the indivisibility and interdependence between these rights 2016, para. 55
- Paragraph text
- The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women has had the opportunity to consider in its jurisprudence the obligation of States parties to address threats to women linked to lack of housing. In Ms. A.T. v. Hungary, the Committee considered the circumstances of a woman with two children who was viciously beaten by her husband and who feared for her life. She was unable to move to a shelter because there were no spaces available to accommodate her child, who had a disability. The domestic courts refused to grant A.T. possession of her home, in consideration of the property rights of her husband. The Committee held that women's human rights to life and to physical and mental integrity could not be superseded by other rights, including the right to property and the right to privacy. The Committee recommended that Hungary take positive measures to remedy the situation of A.T., to ensure better protection for women more generally and to ensure that A.T. was given a safe home in which to live with her children, as well as child support, legal assistance and reparation for the violations of her rights.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The right to life and the right to adequate housing: the indivisibility and interdependence between these rights 2016, para. 36
- Paragraph text
- Similarly, in Jasin v. Denmark (see CCPR/C/114/D/2360/2014) the Committee considered the effects of homelessness in the context of a single mother facing deportation to Italy. Osman Jasin had fled for her life from a violent husband in Somalia and was rescued by the Italian Coastguard while crossing the Mediterranean. In Italy, she tried without success to find housing, lived in the street with her one-year-old daughter, sleeping in railway stations and marketplaces. Ms. Jasin and her daughter left Italy to seek asylum in the Netherlands, but were returned to Italy, where she again lived in the street with her two-year-old daughter, sleeping in railway stations during a pregnancy. She was denied medical assistance during the birth of her second child because she had no address. When she was unable to pay to renew her Italian residency permit, she travelled to Denmark. The Committee found that returning her and her children to Italy would constitute cruel and inhuman treatment because they would likely become homeless again.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The right to life and the right to adequate housing: the indivisibility and interdependence between these rights 2016, para. 32
- Paragraph text
- With the assignment of the right to life to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Human Rights Committee was charged with interpreting its universal meaning and clarifying State obligations to respect, protect and fulfil the right to life. Recent human rights treaties include the right to life as it applies to particular groups, specifically children, migrants and persons with disabilities. No doubt the interpretation of these provisions by treaty bodies will advance the understanding of the right to life in a manner that is informed by the lived experience of these different groups. To date, however, only the Human Rights Committee has adopted a general comment on this right, and all of the substantive jurisprudence on the right to life at the international level adjudicating allegations of violations of the right to life has emerged from cases under the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. In the light of this leading role, the Committee's jurisprudence requires considered attention.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Persons on the move
- Persons with disabilities
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Financialization of housing and the right to adequate housing 2017, para. 58
- Paragraph text
- There is considerable variation and inconsistency, however, in the way mortgage or rental default is addressed in domestic law and enforced by courts. In many jurisdictions, foreclosure is a common practice for arrears in mortgage payments, regardless of the cause of the arrears and the consequences of foreclosure. Principles of international human rights law requiring, for example, that no eviction take place if it will lead to homelessness, have not generally been properly applied by domestic courts to evictions linked to defaults on mortgages or rent. The Special Rapporteur is concerned that in the area of housing, the "remedy" of eviction from homes is routinely applied in the case of unpaid debts, even though there are many other options available for courts to enforce repayment or restructuring of debts, short of invoking the State power to seize or evict individuals from their home, such as imposing repayment plans or garnishing wages. Foreclosures and evictions have severe effects on health and well-being and may result in the loss of custody of children. Those are unacceptable consequences of default on mortgage or rent payments when other options are available. They are, moreover, generally contrary to international human rights law.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The right to life and the right to adequate housing: the indivisibility and interdependence between these rights 2016, para. 57
- Paragraph text
- Through its jurisprudence over the past two decades, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights has developed the concept of vida digna (the right to a dignified life) in the context of article 4 (right to life) of the American Convention on Human Rights. This concept was first referenced in the Court's landmark decision in "Street Children" (Villagrán Morales et al.) v. Guatemala,39 and is, perhaps, nowhere else more eloquently articulated: The right to life is a fundamental human right, and the exercise of this right is essential for the exercise of all other human rights. If it is not respected, all rights lack meaning. Owing to the fundamental nature of the right to life, restrictive approaches to it are inadmissible. In essence, the fundamental right to life includes not only the right of every human being not to be deprived of his life arbitrarily, but also the right that he will not be prevented from having access to the conditions that guarantee a dignified existence. States have the obligation to guarantee the creation of the conditions required in order that violations of this basic right do not occur and, in particular, the duty to prevent its agents from violating it.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Responsibilities of local and other subnational governments in relation to the right to adequate housing 2015, para. 10
- Paragraph text
- The internal allocation of responsibilities for implementing the right to adequate housing is a matter for State parties to determine, but the allocation must be consistent with the obligation to ensure compliance with international human rights obligations. The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights has indicated that "all administrative authorities will take account of the requirements of the Covenant in their decision-making". Hence, the wide range of housing policy and programme decisions often made at the local level, including budgeting, planning, zoning, allocation of benefits and publically funded housing units, the provision or regulation of basic services, rent subsidies, and any other decisions related to access to adequate housing, must comply with relevant, applicable human rights norms. In most cases a national housing strategy is required among regional and local authorities in order to reconcile related policies with the obligations under the Covenant. The Committee on the Rights of the Child further clarifies that State parties must also ensure that local authorities "have the necessary financial, human and other resources to effectively discharge [their] responsibilities".
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Children
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The right to adequate housing of persons with disabilities 2017, para. 16
- Paragraph text
- Orphanages housing abandoned children similarly institutionalize and isolate children with disabilities. One study found that 45 per cent of children living in Russian State institutions had impairments.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Persons with disabilities
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The right to life and the right to adequate housing: the indivisibility and interdependence between these rights 2016, para. 50
- Paragraph text
- Under article 6 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, States parties recognize the inherent right to life of every child and the obligation to ensure to the maximum extent possible the survival and development of the child. The chair of the drafting committee for the Convention explained this unique provision by noting that, while the approach to the right to life in other conventions was more negative, the committee's approach should be positive and take into account economic, social and cultural conditions.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Homelessness as a global human rights crisis that demands an urgent global response 2016, para. 75
- Paragraph text
- The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights has focused on the need for comprehensive housing strategies to address homelessness, framed around the right to housing and ensuring monitoring and accountability with goals, timelines and complaints procedures. Similarly, in the case of street children, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights advocates a holistic approach that recognizes rights as interdependent and interconnected, through a coordinated approach across government departments and with the involvement of family and community.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Homelessness as a global human rights crisis that demands an urgent global response 2016, para. 55
- Paragraph text
- The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights have developed important jurisprudence recognizing the obligation of the State to protect the special relationship between indigenous peoples and land in addressing violations in which, for example, members of indigenous communities have been "violently forced from their homes and traditional lands into a situation of ongoing displacement". In addition, in considering the plight of street-connected children, the Court has explained that the right to life requires States to take positive measures to ensure access to the conditions needed to lead a dignified life, recognizing that the right to life belongs "at the same time to the domain of civil and political rights as well as economic, social and cultural rights".
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Ethnic minorities
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Homelessness as a global human rights crisis that demands an urgent global response 2016, para. 23
- Paragraph text
- National and local laws often make homeless people into lawbreakers, rather than protecting their rights. Laws are created to render homeless people invisible, to displace them from land or housing and destroy their makeshift shelters. In many places punitive measures such as fines or incarceration are imposed for activities linked to basic survival, including constructing any kind of shelter out of cardboard. Laws enable authorities to "rescue" street-connected children, depriving them of their liberty without due process or respect for the social networks upon which they rely.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The right to life and the right to adequate housing: the indivisibility and interdependence between these rights 2016, para. 44
- Paragraph text
- The Committee's preliminary draft general comment No. 36, of October 2015, includes components that could lay the foundation for a renewed commitment to the more expansive approach and the recognition of positive obligations that was affirmed in the Committee's general comment No. 6 on the right to life. For example, the draft reaffirms that article 6 imposes obligations to adopt strategies and programmes - components of which would be longer-term - to address extreme poverty, homelessness and other systemic deprivations of the right to life. It recognizes that the right to life includes the "right to a dignified life", referring to the famous decision of the Inter-American Court on the right to life of children in street situations. The draft directs States to "aim to facilitate and promote adequate conditions for a dignified existence for all individuals".
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Poverty
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The right to life and the right to adequate housing: the indivisibility and interdependence between these rights 2016, para. 40
- Paragraph text
- Yet the negative rights framework in which the Human Rights Committee has articulated the convergence between rights in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the right to adequate housing continues to restrict State accountability to situations where homelessness results from State action such as deportation or eviction. It allows States to ignore, with impunity, their obligations to address living conditions such as those in the Roma settlement in the Georgopoulos case, described as "an insult to our humanity". This means that a child rendered homeless by deportation or eviction is considered a victim of a violation of rights and entitled to an effective remedy, but a child born into the same circumstances of homelessness may not be. It is critical, therefore, that violations not be restricted to circumstances of direct "interference". Those whose right to life is denied by conditions of socioeconomic deprivation must also be entitled to effective remedies.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Guiding Principles on security of tenure for the urban poor 2014, para. 64
- Paragraph text
- States should take measures to protect the tenure security and promote inheritance rights of women and girls in the case of the death of a spouse, father, brother, son or other male household member so that they are able to continue residing in the family home. States should also take measures to address the vulnerability of women and children to tenure insecurity due to a breakdown of spousal relations, including as a result of domestic violence. Women and children's security of tenure should be prioritized in these circumstances. Many legal systems authorize the victim of domestic violence to stay in the family home, and order the removal of the perpetrator. For example, in Serbia, the Family Law authorizes the courts to issue an order for the removal of the perpetrator of domestic violence from the family home, allowing the victim to remain in the home, regardless of ownership (art. 198 (2)). When remaining in the family home is not feasible, States should ensure victims have access to alternative adequate housing with secure tenure.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2014
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Migration and the right to adequate housing 2010, para. 68
- Paragraph text
- When children do not have documents they face triple discrimination: as children, as migrants and as being undocumented, and thus they constitute one of the most vulnerable groups. Their right to adequate housing, as well as other economic, social and cultural rights, are often severely affected in those circumstances. Among undocumented children, a particularly difficult situation is that of unaccompanied migrant children, who, because their parents are unable to work or they have no parents to look after them, are forced into poverty and exclusion. Often living on the streets, in parks and in front of shops, these children are excluded from child protection services and are denied adequate housing. In certain countries, unaccompanied children are detained for living on the streets and are institutionalized in prison-like conditions or deported to countries where they have no family to care for them (see A/HRC/14/30, paras. 58 and 59).
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Poverty
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Migration and the right to adequate housing 2010, para. 20
- Paragraph text
- In its conclusions on Albania of 2006, the European Committee of Social Rights recalled that according to article 19, paragraph 4, of the European Social Charter, States must eliminate all legal and de facto discrimination concerning access to public and private housing for migrant workers and that, accordingly, no legal or de facto restrictions on subsidized housing may be implemented. In its conclusions on the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the Committee noted that there were no objective, pre-established and easily understandable eligibility criteria to qualify for housing benefits, and requested information from the Government on the number of foreign nationals who had been refused any form of social assistance on the grounds that they did not satisfy the habitual residence condition. Furthermore, in its decision on the case DCI vs. the Netherlands, the Committee stated that the State must provide adequate shelter to undocumented migrant children under its jurisdiction.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
16 shown of 16 entities