declarations which were in place in 1984 and the manner with which they should best be incorporated. Members will be asked to advise on this and other detailed questions later stage.
Content of the Bill
15
..
The rights enshrined in the ICCPR and those in the ICESCR
different are
in nature.
Indeed, it was in recognition of this difference that the rights were included in two separate Covenants. The ICESCR is exhortative rather than mandatory. Many of the rights it embodies cannot be made directly justiciable (for example provisions recognizing the right of everyone to social security, the right to participate in cultural life, etc.), although legislation may be necessary to give effect to them. For these reasons many countries have not included economic, cultural and social rights in constitutional documents which purport to guarantee justiciable rights. These rights are usually realized through: the passage of appropriate..legislation and the pursuit of special policies.
16
open for dealing with the rights
Three options are
are open
enshrined in the ICESCR:
17
(a) to omit the ICESCR altogether;
(b)
(c)
to include it in the Bill, but as a statement of policy without mandatory force; or
to include only those rights which may fairly be regarded as being justiciable at. the present time.
of
Option (a) above is
is defensible in rational terms (see paragraph 15 above) but might be
but might be seen by some as open neglect of the ICESCR rights. This concern could be met, if the Government were to inform the public, simultaneously with publication
the Bill, of
of existing and future social services and legislative programmes, as well as relevant existing legislation, e.g. employment protection, industrial safety, compulsory education, which give effect to the ICESCR rights. Option (b) might appear to be an empty gesture. Concurrent publicity similar to that envisaged for option (a) above would probably be necessary to satisfy public opinion. There may also be doubt s about the value of entering a statement of policy with no legal force in the statute books (though there is no legal bar to doing so). Option (c) would be difficult to implement since rights which may be categorised as justiciable are not readily ascertained. Any decision in this regard would be
the controversial, and Government would undoubtedly be
be criticised for leaving out certain rights, while including others.
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