Dear colleagues,
Thank you for the many interesting and valuable contributions circulated here.
I attach an article that may be of interest.
Best regards,
Dr Margot E Salomon
Director, Centre for the Study of Human Rights (Acting)
Associate Professor, Law Department
Director, Laboratory for Advanced Research on the Global Economy at the Centre for the Study of Human Rights
London School of Economics
Houghton Street
London WC2A 2AE
direct tel: +44 (0)20 7955 6922
fax: +44 (0)20 7955 6934
Click here for the Lab
Of Austerity, Human Rights and International Institutions
Abstract: Austerity measures in many European countries have led to the violation of social rights and widespread socio-economic malaise. In the case of countries subjected to conditionality imposed by external institutions for the receipt of loans, the resultant harms have highlighted responsibility gaps across a range of international institutions. Two recent legal developments come together to expose these gaps: Greece's argument in a series of cases under the European Social Charter that it was not responsible for the impact on the right to social security brought about by austerity measures since it was only giving effect to its other international obligations as agreed with the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund (the Troika), and the concern to emerge from the Pringle case before the European Court of Justice that European Union institutions could do outside of the EU that which they could not do within the EU – disregard the Charter of Fundamental Rights in the exercise of their tasks. That the Commission and ECB were in time answerable to international organisations set up to provide financial support adds an additional layer of responsibility to consider. Taking Greece as a case study and drawing on EU law, international human rights law, and the law on the international responsibility of states and of international organisations, this article looks to what we can expect in legal terms and as a matter of contemporary societal expectation when it comes to having international institutions respect human rights
Thank you for the many interesting and valuable contributions circulated here.
I attach an article that may be of interest.
Best regards,
Dr Margot E Salomon
Director, Centre for the Study of Human Rights (Acting)
Associate Professor, Law Department
Director, Laboratory for Advanced Research on the Global Economy at the Centre for the Study of Human Rights
London School of Economics
Houghton Street
London WC2A 2AE
direct tel: +44 (0)20 7955 6922
fax: +44 (0)20 7955 6934
Click here for the Lab
Of Austerity, Human Rights and International Institutions
Abstract: Austerity measures in many European countries have led to the violation of social rights and widespread socio-economic malaise. In the case of countries subjected to conditionality imposed by external institutions for the receipt of loans, the resultant harms have highlighted responsibility gaps across a range of international institutions. Two recent legal developments come together to expose these gaps: Greece's argument in a series of cases under the European Social Charter that it was not responsible for the impact on the right to social security brought about by austerity measures since it was only giving effect to its other international obligations as agreed with the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund (the Troika), and the concern to emerge from the Pringle case before the European Court of Justice that European Union institutions could do outside of the EU that which they could not do within the EU – disregard the Charter of Fundamental Rights in the exercise of their tasks. That the Commission and ECB were in time answerable to international organisations set up to provide financial support adds an additional layer of responsibility to consider. Taking Greece as a case study and drawing on EU law, international human rights law, and the law on the international responsibility of states and of international organisations, this article looks to what we can expect in legal terms and as a matter of contemporary societal expectation when it comes to having international institutions respect human rights
