Economic Social And Cultural Rights In Zimbabwe

Socio-economic inequality is deeply rooted in Zimbabwe due to a number of factors. One of the main factors is the exclusion of socio-economic rights as justiciable under the now repealed Lancaster House Constitution (LHC). A plethora of excessive bureaucratic actions in a number of instances left many people stranded without the recourse to the law, particularly without protection by the Constitution. To correct this historic anomaly, the 2013 Constitution was enacted. The 2013 Constitution protects both civil and political rights and socio-economic rights in the same way as justiciable rights. This provides the highest degree of interdependence and interrelatedness of all rights in the domestic legal order. In order to ensure that socio-economic rights are effectively protected and enforced, this study identifies and discusses the framework for protecting socio-economic rights under the 2013 Constitution. Firstly, the specific rights protected under the Constitution and the obligations imposed by these rights are presented. Secondly, the role of the courts in the protection of socio-economic rights is discussed. Further, some of the major conceptual and practical challenges that are likely to arise in the adjudication of socio-economic rights are identified. In this regard, the study attempts to present solutions meant to overcome the conceptual and practical challenges that are faced in the enforcement of socio-economic rights. Furthermore, this study argues that strictly adopting one of the two models of review, namely either the reasonableness approach as adopted by South African courts or the minimum core approach as expounded by the United Nations Committee on Economic Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR), will inhibit the proper enforcement of the protected rights. Therefore, courts should consider adopting an integrated model that includes both approaches to ensure that socio-economic rights are effectively protected and realised.

This book addresses the issue of corruption as a socio-economic rights concern at a national level. Zimbabwe’s widespread corruption inhibited its development in all aspects. It weakened institutions, especially those called upon to arbitrate political and economic contests, leading to potential human rights violations. However, Zimbabwe saw a change of government in November 2017. Due to this, there seemed to be an opening to work towards reform in relation to the anti-corruption architecture. Specifically, the new era provides an opportunity to review how accountability mechanisms (including but not limited to amnesties, truth commissions, institutional reforms and prosecutions) can address corruption as a socio-economic rights violation. As the new government still tries to address competing priorities, many moving parts and various matrixes, this volume in the International Criminal Justice Series provides a timely frame for revisiting the debate and developing the strategic thinking regarding transitional justice options in Zimbabwe. It will be of great interest to practitioners, policy makers, scholars and students in the fields of anti-corruption, socio-economic and human rights, and transitional justice. Prosper Maguchu is Visiting Assistant Professor at the Centre for the Politics of Transnational Law of the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

This book critically examines models of domestic, regional and international judicial protection of economic, cultural and social rights in Africa.

This exciting Research Handbook combines practitioner and academic perspectives to provide a comprehensive, cutting edge analysis of economic, social and cultural rights (ESCR), as well as the connection between ESCR and other rights. Offering an authoritative analysis of standards and jurisprudence, it argues for an expansive and inclusive approach to ESCR as human rights.

This title offers a selection of those major contributions which have shaped debate in the field of economic, social and cultural rights. The broad range of discussion includes: the nature of economic, social and cultural rights and the ability of courts to protect them; the effectiveness of non-judicial protective mechanisms at both the universal and the domestic level; ways of measuring whether states do enough to 'progressively realize' these rights; the impact of trade and investment liberalization, and of economic globalization generally, on the fulfilment of such rights; and the role of economic, social and cultural rights in development.

Captures significant transformations in the theory and practice of economic and social rights in constitutional and human rights law.