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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 11 February 2021
ABSTRACT
This contribution explores the reception of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) on the European level by analysing ‘case law’ of the European Committee of Social Rights (ECSR) on children. It illustrates the framework for the protection of social rights of children in the two Charter texts (the 1961 European Social Charter and the Revised European Social Charter) and identifies a number ‘of recurring themes’ in the complaints submitted to the ECSR. These groups of cases disclose persisting deficits concerning the protection of social rights of children in Europe, but also show that the CRC has already developed a considerable influence on the European Social Charter (ESC) and its interpretation by the ECSR. The contribution concludes by highlighting the advantages and disadvantages of the collective complaints system of the ESC for the enforcement of children's rights.
INTRODUCTION
As we are celebrating the 30th birthday of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), it is time to take a closer look at its influence on regional instruments and their interpretation by the competent treaty bodies. In this regard, the European Social Charter (ESC), often neglected compared to its older ‘sibling’, the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), merits special attention, as it includes specific provisions on children. The following analysis aims to explore how the European Committee of Social Rights (ECSR) has interpreted these provisions – particularly in its ‘case law’ on collective complaints – and thereby also tries to identify the main gaps concerning the protection of children's social rights in Europe 30 years after the adoption of the CRC.
THE STARTING POINT: TWO TREATIES AND A UNIQUE MONITORING MECHANISM
Before embarking on a detailed analysis, it is useful to recall the unique setting of the Social Charter within the European human rights framework. Discussion of the ESC is in fact imprecise, as there are two instruments, the original 1961 Charter and the Revised European Social Charter of 1996 (RESC), which exist in parallel, as not all States Parties have yet ratified the revised treaty. Regarding the monitoring of the States Parties’ compliance, however, both the 1961 ESC and the RESC establish certain competences for the ECSR.
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