The defence, enforcement and funding of socio-economic, labour and gender rights

Abstract

It is all good and fine to proclaim rights of the poor and working people in a constitution, but whether they are realized in practice is another thing. Over and above the proclamation of rights any constitution that is “people-driven” must provide certain basic essential structures for the realization of the proclaimed rights, especially of working people, the poor and groups that have suffered historical and social marginalization like women and the disabled. These structures include: (1) Inclusion of the socio-economic, gender and labour rights in a justifiable and universally applicable and sourced Declaration of Rights; (2) Provisions for economic democracy, in particular the funding of the socio-economic, gender and labour rights from both public and private property and wealth; (3) Provisions for judicial democracy, in particular in relation to institutions and procedures; (4) Provisions for political democracy, in particular the democratization of state power; (5) Provision of citizens’ right to organize in defence of the constitution and their rights. In this concluding paper on rights we briefly look into each of these areas.