The UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) published its first recommendations in relation to an individual complaint under the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (OP-ICESCR). The recommendation took into consideration an ESCR-Net intervention and concerned a right to housing violation.
The OP-ICESCR, which was implemented in May 2013, gives the Committee the capacity to hear complaints from individuals or groups of individuals who were unable to obtain justice for violations of economic, social and cultural rights through the justice system in their own country.
In I.D.G v Spain (Communication 2/2014) the Committee established that the State has the obligation to provide for effective remedies in foreclosure procedures related to defaulting on mortgage repayments, to ensure that all appropriate measures are taken to guarantee personal notification in foreclosure procedures, and to guarantee that legislative measures are adopted to prevent repetition of similar violations in the future.
This case arose from the issue of widespread threats to the right to housing in Spain whereby a vast amount of people lost their homes upon defaulting on mortgage repayments during the country’s recent economic recession and substantial unemployment. During this period, approximately 400,000 mortgage foreclosures occurred in the country between 2008 and 2012.
The Committee made a ruling consistent with the third party intervention, presented by the International Network for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ESCR-Net) through members of its Strategic Litigation Working Group - the Centre for Economic and Social Rights (CESR), the Global Initiative for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (GI-ESCR), and the Socio-Economic Rights Institute of South Africa (SERI). The ruling stated that State parties must implement and apply their domestic law in a manner consistent with their obligations as per the ICESCR and must guarantee judicial protection for Covenant rights. This also includes the right to adequate housing.
Protection of the right to housing entails States parties to take into account all possible alternatives to eviction, safeguard the highest possible security of tenure, make provision for adequate and reasonable notice in instances of eviction, warrant that evictions do not result in persons being vulnerable to other human rights violations, and provide sufficient and appropriate compensation for violations.
This case is of importance for those individuals and groups seeking to obtain justice for ESCR violations. However, it is important to note that for such recourse to be sought through the CESCR, the States which the individuals are resident in must have ratified the OP-ICESCR. Currently, only 21 countries have ratified the OP-ICESCR: Argentina, Belgium, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cabo Verde, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Finland, France, Gabon, Italy, Luxembourg, Mongolia, Montenegro, Niger, Portugal, San Marino, Slovakia, Spain and Uruguay. Ireland is not included in this list.
Click here for the Spanish version of the recommendations.