Entrada en vigor de los Protocolos Facultativos del Pacto Internacional de Derechos Económicos, Sociales y Culturales y de la Convención sobre los Derechos del Niño relativos a un procedimiento de comunicaciones

Abstract

In the course of barely a year both the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (5 May 2013) and the Third Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on a Communications Procedure (14 April 2014) have entered into force, with Spain among the States Parties. The success of these Protocols lies in the elimination of the previously held perception of economic, social and cultural rights as second-generation human rights and the recognition of the right of individuals to report any violation of these rights. The right of individuals or groups of people to submit communications has come to symbolize the key feature of the new Protocols, the object of which is to ensure compliance with the Covenant and Convention of 1989 and with its two Optional Protocols of 2000. Inter-State communications, something yet to be achieved at a global level, and the investigation of grave or systematic violations complete the framework of control mechanisms established. The Protocol to the Covenant also provides for the adoption of complementary measures of international assistance and cooperation, including the creation of a trust fund.