This coming June, over a dozen members will gather alongside local human rights litigators in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, for the first of the working group’s series of strategic litigation workshops. Co-hosted with the Centre for Human Rights and Development, the workshop will focus on environmental rights litigation, particularly involving corporate actors. Members will participate in a day of discussion of local challenges related to the workshop theme before engaging in three days of strategic exchange.

Next Steps

Members have expressed strong interest in a litigation workshop discussing housing and land issues, particularly from a women’s rights perspective. Given that interest and the numerous applications received on that theme, we are pleased to say that this will be the topic of the second litigation workshop, co-hosted with the Human Rights Law Network in India in early 2020. Those interested who applied for the first workshop will be automatically considered for the second. A new call for applications will be circulated in the second semester of this year, so please stay tuned for that. Please contact SLWG Coordinator Fernando Delgado at fdelgado@escr-net.org for more information.

This past March, eight working group members—Asociación Civil por la Igualdad y la Justicia (ACIJ), Amnesty International, Asociación Interamericana para la Defensa del Ambiente (AIDA), Comisión Colombiana de Juristas, Dejusticia, FIAN International, International Women’s Rights Action Watch - Asia Pacific (IWRAW-AP), and Minority Rights Group International (MRG)—submitted an amicus brief (in Spanish) in the case of the Indigenous Communities of Lhaka Honhat vs. Argentina before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. The members urged the Court to build on its emerging ESCR jurisprudence and apply autonomous rights to a healthy environment, cultural identity, food, and water under Article 26 of the American Convention on Human Rights. Members situated their shared analysis in the context of indigenous peoples’ rights to self-determination and development, recalling state duties to seek indigenous peoples’ free, prior, and informed consent concerning activities that could harm their rights, including in relation to land and natural resources. The Lhaka Honhat case is being litigated by member Centro de Estudios Legales y Sociales (CELS).

In August of last year, the UN Human Rights Committee issued a favorable decision in Toussaint vs. Canada, recognizing the positive obligation of States to ensure that everyone has access to essential health care necessary to prevent foreseeable risks to life, regardless of migration status. The case was litigated by member Social Rights Advocacy Centre (SRAC). Member Amnesty International provided a legal opinion on the case, as did members Center for Economic and Social Rights (CESR), Centro de Estudios Legales y Sociales (CELS), Global Initiative for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (GI-ESCR), Section 27, and Socio-Economic Rights Institute of South Africa (SERI).

In June of last year, the UN Committee on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights (CESCR) announced a positive ruling in the case of Marcia Cecilia Trujillo Calero (MCTC) vs. Ecuador. The case concerned the state’s unjust denial of the author’s pension despite her numerous years of unpaid care work and voluntary good faith contributions to the social security system. The Committee found violations of article 9 (right to social security) as well as articles 2(2) (non-discrimination) and 3 (equality between women and men) in conjunction with article 9 of the International Covenant on ESCR. CESCR took into account the gender equality-focused third party intervention prepared collectively by the following members of the Strategic Litigation and Women and ESCR Working Groups: Amnesty International, Asociación Civil por la Igualdad y la Justicia (ACIJ), Center for Economic and Social Rights (CESR), Economic and Social Rights Centre – Hakijamii, Foro Ciudadano de Participación por la Justicia y los Derechos Humanos (FOCO), Global Initiative for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (GI-ESCR), International Women's Rights Action Watch Asia Pacific (IWRAW AP), Legal Resources Centre (LRC), Social Rights Advocacy Centre (SRAC) and individual members Lilian Chenwi and Viviana Osorio Pérez.

Next Steps

For opportunities for member engagement in the enforcement of the MCTC decision, please see below under “Implementation efforts.”

Please let us know if you identify a case that could be strategic for a next collective case intervention by writing to SLWG Coordinator Fernando Delgado at fdelgado@escr-net.org.

In November 2018, members gathered for a webinar discussion titled, “Implementing CESCR Decisions: Lessons from the Experience of the Follow-Up Procedure in Mohamed Ben Djazia and Naouel Bellili vs. Spain.” Advocates promoting implementation in Spain distilled and reflected on lessons learned from the follow-up process to that landmark tenants’ housing rights case. Presenters included Irene Escorihuela Blasco (member Observatori DESC), Javier Rubio (Centro de Asesoría y Estudios Sociales – CAES), and Marta Mendiola (member Amnesty International). Recordings of the webinar are available in Spanish and English.

In relation to the MCTC vs. Ecuador case (see above under “Collective Case Interventions”), the Women and ESCR Working Group hosted a side-event on women in unpaid care work and their access to social security at the March session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women. The event sparked discussions on how the network might utilize CESCR’s Follow-Up to Views procedure to further implementation of the MCTC decision and help strengthen CESCR’s enforcement mechanism.

Next Steps

We anticipate an opportunity for members to participate in crafting a collective filing concerning implementation of the MCTC decision in the coming months. We encourage all interested members to stay tuned, including those working on issues of women’s rights, unpaid care work, social security, and effective implementation mechanisms for international rulings. Please contact SLWG Coordinator Fernando Delgado at fdelgado@escr-net.org for more information.

In September 2018, members of the SLWG participated in a webinar hosted by ESCR-Net regarding an online tool being developed by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights’ executive secretariat and the state of Paraguay to monitor the implementation of the Commission’s recommendations in cases, thematic reports, country reports, and beyond. The tool will be inspired by Paraguay’s Recommendation Monitoring System (Sistema de Monitoréo de Recomendaciones – SIMORE Plus). According to the presenters, the tool will be available publicly and will include space for civil society input regarding the status of implementation of each Commission recommendation. A full recording of the webinar is available in Spanish and English.

Next Steps

Members and the network secretariat have maintained a dialogue with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights regarding their evolving implementation practices. We will inform the working group of any new opportunities for civil society input. We would love to hear from members interested in working to strengthen implementation practices of regional human rights bodies, including in the African and European systems; please contact SLWG Coordinator Fernando Delgado at fdelgado@escr-net.org.

January and February of 2019 saw two special multiple-case issues of our ESCR Justice newsletter. January’s newsletter surveyed four developments in the realm of ESCR and the environment, with cases touching on issues such as the rights of future generations, the intrinsic value of nature, environmental remedies, and enforcement of environmental judgments. The February issue traced back through our ESCR caselaw database to survey five rulings advancing women’s rights to inherit property, including land. The cases spanned decisions concerning India, Tanzania, Nigeria, and South Africa.

For their contributions, special thanks to member the Program on Human Rights and the Global Economy (PHRGE) at Northeastern University.

Next Steps

If you have suggestions for specific cases to include in the case database, or ideas about the future of database and how we share news about important cases, please contact SLWG Coordinator Fernando Delgado at fdelgado@escr-net.org.

Our working group has grown! We have added new members of the network as well as members who have participated historically in other working groups and spaces. Please welcome the Strategic Litigation Working Group Al Haq, Corporate Accountability, Georgian Young Lawyers Association, Green Advocates, and Human Dignity!