Everyday rights conversation
A decent job and home, enough to eat, clothes to wear, a healthy environment, the chance to learn, and a safety net when we most need it. These are our economic, social and cultural rights (ESCR) – our everyday rights.
We want to make our everyday rights part of UK law, so we gathered people together for a webinar series throughout 2024 to discuss the issue and develop ideas on the practicalities of how this can be achieved across the UK.
Read our five principles for the effective incorporation of economic, social and cultural rights below, along with summaries of each of the webinars.
Session 9: Everyday rights – for all of us, equally?
Recording of session 9’s speakers.
Speaker presentations
Check out powerpoints from our speakers below:
Further reading
Check out some further reading on the issues raised during this session below:
- Report: Career or care: Women, unpaid caring and employment in Northern Ireland – Carers NI and Women’s Regional Consortium, February 2024 (summary)
- Report: Women’s experiences of the cost of living crisis – Siobhán Harding, Ciara Fitzpatrick and Alexandra Chapman, June 2023 (summary)
- Report: Women Living with Debt – Siobhán Harding, September 2022 (summary)
- Report: The socio-economic duty in action: case studies from England and Wales – Resolve Poverty and Just Fair, July 2023
- Briefing: The current scale of the socio-economic duty in England – Resolve Poverty, July 2022
- Guide: A Practical Guide for Local Authority Implementation of the Socio-economic Duty in England – Resolve Poverty and Just Fair, June 2021
- Paper: Comparison in Intersectional Discrimination – Shreya Atrey, July 2018
Session 8: From cradle to grave - the right to an adequate standard of living
Recording of session 8’s speakers.
Speaker presentations
Check out powerpoints from our speakers below:
Further reading
Check out some further reading on the issues raised during this session below:
- Policy Briefing: Social care reform and unpaid carers – Carers NI – October 2024
- Report: Poverty and financial hardship of unpaid carers in the UK – Carers UK – September 2024
- Webpage: Carer Poverty Commission – Carers NI
- Manifesto: Together Against Debt – Debt Justice UK – March 2024
- Report: A patchwork of provision: council funerals across the UK – Down to Earth – July 2024
- Paper: Poverty: The Cost-of-Living-Perma-Crisis and the UDHR – Luke D. Graham – February 2024
- Paper: Reasserting the Right to Adequate Clothing in International Human Rights Law – Luke D. Graham – March 2024
- Report: Submission to UN Committee on Economic, Social & Cultural Rights – Just Fair – January 2023
- Report: The Practitioner Perspective on Access to Justice for Social Rights: Addressing the Accountability Gap – Katie Boyle, Diana Camps, Kirstie English and Jo Ferrie – May 2022
Session 7: Everyday rights: justice for people and the environment
Recording of session 7’s speakers.
Speaker presentations
Check out powerpoints from some of our speakers below:
Further reading
Check out some further reading on the issues raised during this session below:
- Blog – ‘The Rights Detectives: Investigating the Right to a Healthy Environment’, Environmental Rights Centre Scotland.
- Blog – ‘Reflecting on the Rights Detectives investigation into a right to a healthy environment for children and young people’, Environmental Rights Centre Scotland.
- Animation – ‘The Human Right to a Healthy Environment’, Environmental Rights Centre Scotland.
- Guide – ‘The Right to a Healthy Environment: A User’s Guide’ David R. Boyd, UN Special Rapporteur on the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment, 2024
- Report – ‘The Substantive Right to a Healthy Environment: A review of definitions, standards and enforcement mechanisms’ Environmental Rights Centre Scotland and Scottish Environment LINK, 2023
Session 6: Rights Enjoyment
Recording of session 6.
Further reading
Check out some further reading on the issues raised during this session below:
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- Disabled People’s Manifesto – DPO Forum – April 2024
- Why poverty is even harder if you’re disabled and from North East – Big Issue – January 2024
- Disability Devolution 2024 – Difference North East – updated throughout 2024
- Protection and Assistance to the Family: Interpreting and Applying Article 10 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights from Learnt and Lived Experiences– Koldo Casla and Lyle Barker – May 2024
- The European Committee of Social Rights relies on Essex Human Rights Centre report on child poverty in the UK – Koldo Casla – April 2024
- Solidarity as Foundation for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights – Koldo Casla and Marion Sandner – May 2024
- Human Rights Local – a project of Essex Human Rights Centre.
- UNISON Knowledge Base – updated regularly
- Imam v London Borough of Croydon UKSC Nov 2023 – the principle that legal recognition of rights means that local authorities must comply, whatever budget constraints, resources must be found.
- CESCR Lopez Alban v Spain, 2019 – Analysing the proportionality of an eviction entails examining not only the consequences of the measures for the evicted persons but also the owner’s need to recover possession of the property.
Session 5: Rights Accountability
Recording of session 5.
Further reading
Check out some further reading on the issues raised during this session below:
- ‘Heartbreaking irresponsibility’ in pandemic political leadership at Covid Inquiry in Belfast | Disability Action N. Ireland
- Political Crisis Ends Essential Services and Representation of Disabled People | Disability Action Northern Ireland
- Introducing fees in the Employment Tribunals and the Employment Appeal Tribunal | TUC – Mar 2024
- Building a new human rights framework for Scotland: Key legal features – Scottish Human Rights Commission – Sep 2022
- Adequate and Effective Remedies for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights – Scottish Human Rights Commission – Dec 2020
- A stronger Human Rights Commission for Scotland – Scottish Human Rights Commission – October 2023
- Access to justice for everyone – Scottish Human Rights Commission – September 2023
- At a Crossroads – which way now for the human rights system in Scotland? – Scottish Human Rights Commission – June 2023
- Introducing Fees in the Employment Tribunals and the Employment Appeal Tribunal
- Introducing Fees in the Employment Tribunals and the Employment Appeal Tribunal – Just Fair response – March 2025
Session 4: Rights Resourcing
Recording of session 4.
Speaker presentations
Check out powerpoints from some of our speakers below:
Further reading
Check out some further reading on the issues raised during this session below:
- Registering progress… – report by Tax Justice UK on how Britain’s Crown Dependencies and Overseas Territories.
- Six Wealth Tax Policies to Raise £50 Billion – briefing by Tax Justice UK in advance of Spring Statement, 2023.
- In stark relief – Tax Justice UK on how the UK’s annual inheritance tax reliefs favour the wealthy, 2019.
- The world we want – Tax Justice UK sets out how the government could find the £20 billion a year extra promised for the NHS by raising taxes on wealth, 2018.
- Public Law Project’s response to the Ministry of Justice Review of Civil Legal Aid Call for Evidence, 2024.
- The cost of access to justice – blog by Public Law Project, 2019.
- How can the Department of Work and Pensions operate more transparently, lawfully, and fairly? – Public Law Project, 2023.
- Public Law Project briefing on the Legal Aid Means Test Review consultation (Civil proposals), 2022.
- Special Educational Needs and disability – Children’s Law Centre briefing paper for the NI Assembly Committee for Education, 2024
- Special Education Needs and Disability (SEND) Investment and Transformation – Briefing paper by Sen Reform NI, 2024.
Session 3: Rights frameworks
Recording of session 3.
Further reading
Check out some further reading on the issues raised during this session below:
- Make human rights justice a reality from Human Rights Consortium Scotland, JustRight Scotland, Environmental Rights Centre for Scotland, Poverty Alliance, Shelter Scotland, CLAN Childlaw and Justice.
- Lived Expertise in Access to Justice the parallel report to Make human rights justice a reality
- Access to Justice for Everyone: How might a new Human Rights legal framework improve access to justice in Scotland today? A discussion paper by Professor Katie Boyle for the Scottish Human Rights Commission
- Academic Advisory Panel Briefing Paper: Access to Justice for Economic, Social, Cultural and Environmental Rights, Principles of Adjudication by Professor Katie Boyle
- Advice issues (Trends) Feb 2024 by Citizens Advice
Session 2: Rights knowledge – building and embedding
Recording of session 2.
Speaker presentations
Check out powerpoints from some of our speakers below:
Further reading
Check out some further reading on the issues raised during this session below:
United Nations:
- OHCHR web section on human rights education and training.
- Stories of young human rights educators.
- Movie on impact of human rights education.
- Activities to do with children for them to learn about human rights, depending on age.
- OHCHR Resource Collection on human rights education. Over 4,000 searchable education and training materials.
BIHR:
- BIHR human rights resources.
- General information about where do my rights apply.
- Easy Read resources.
- Set of resources on the Human Rights Act coproduced with young people.
- BIHR response to the Scottish Government consultation.
Other resources:
- Resource to support and challenge officials and decision-makers, as duty bearers, to work to ensure young people’s Article 12 right is respected. Created by Scottish Youth Parliament members.
- Children’s Law Centre have specific resources for children and young people to learn about their rights, including a live chat.
- THRE’s website
Session 1: Making everyday rights real: an introduction to economic, social and cultural rights in the UK.
Recording of session 1.
Speaker presentations
Check out powerpoints from some of our speakers below:
Further reading
Check out some further reading on the issues raised during this session below:
Everyday Rights
- What are Economic, Social and Cultural Rights?
- The International Convention on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
- The International Convention on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in Plain English
- The route to economic, social, and cultural rights justice: Our 5 principles
- Just Fair submission to UN Committee on Economic, Social & Cultural Rights, January 2023
Scotland
- A Human Rights Bill for Scotland: analysis of consultation responses, January 2024
- Just Fair response to Scottish Government consultation on Human Rights (Scotland) Bill, September 2023
- A Human Rights Bill for Scotland: Consultation Document, June 2023
- Building a new human rights framework for Scotland: Key legal features, September 2022
- Scottish National Taskforce for Human Rights Leadership Report, March 2021
- All Our Rights In Law: views from the wider public A report to the National Taskforce on Human Rights Leadership, 2020
- First Minister’s Advisory Group on Human Rights Leadership Report, December 2018
- Human Rights Bill Lived Experience Board Reports – Human Rights Consortium Scotland
Wales
- Just Fair Response – Housing Green Paper, September 2023
- Call for evidence on securing a path towards Adequate Housing, June 2023
- The right to adequate housing in Wales: cost-benefit analysis, September 2022
- Strengthening and advancing equality and human rights in Wales, August 2021
- The right to adequate housing in Wales: Feasibility Report, June 2019
- A More Equal Wales: The Socio-economic Duty
Background image: Generations for the Change: Bibi Sakata