COHRE Factsheet Legal Resources

COHRE FACTSHEET Legal resources on housing rights "…the right to housing goes further than the right not to be subjected to arbitrary or forced eviction. It also involves a duty on the State to take effective action to enable its people to meet their need for a safe and secure home where they can live with dignity. That is not achieved easily or overnight, but…it is now internationally recognised that States must take appropriate steps to ensure the realisation of this right."

- Pres. Nelson Mandela, former President of South Africa

Housing rights are entrenched in a number of international human rights instruments, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights; the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights; the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights; the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination; the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women; the Convention on the Rights of the Child; and the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families.

They are also codified in a number of regional human rights instruments - such as the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, the European Social Charter and Revised European Social Charter, the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, the American Convention on Human Rights and the American Declaration on the Rights and Duties of Man. The UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights' General Comment No. 4 is widely seen as the single most authoritative interpretation of the right to adequate housing. Additionally, General Comment No. 7 provides a detailed understanding of the prohibition on forced eviction.

With rights come corresponding obligations. When states ratify human rights treaties, they take on three general legally-binding obligations – the obligation to respect the rights in the treaty, the obligation to protect the rights in the treaty, and the obligation to fulfil the rights in the treaty. When housing rights advocates take action to promote and protect housing rights, citing these obligations will empower their advocacy by grounding it in legally-binding obligations.

The obligation to respect requires governments to refrain from interfering with people’s existing access to housing. One clear violation is forced evictions.

The obligation to protect means ensuring individuals and communities do not suffer from violations of housing rights by non-state actors, other states and inter-governmental organisations. Violations must be investigated, perpetrators prosecuted and legal and other remedies provided to victims.

Consequently, states are obligated to, for example, ensure that corporations do not forcibly evict residents, that private landlords ensure the habitability of housing, and that structural adjustment

policies created by inter-governmental organizations not on do not violate housing rights, but contribute to the fulfillment of housing rights.

The obligation to fulfil means that States have an obligation to progressively realise the right of adequate housing by taking meaningful and concrete steps towards that goal. Steps should include a reasonable plan of action to fully realize the right to adequate housing and the devotion of reasonable resources towards implementing that plan. Any plan of action that fails to prioritize the needs of the most vulnerable or marginalized populations is inherently unreasonable.

The legal resources listed below — declarations, covenants and conventions — together form the body of international law recognising housing rights.

In legal terms, the most powerful documents are called conventions, covenants or charters, as these are legally binding treaties.

Declarations and recommendations are also of vital importance, but are accorded less legal weight than treaties.

Arguments supporting housing rights are much stronger if you can show that your country has ratified or acceded to any of the conventions, covenants or charters listed below. If your country has ratified any of these then your government has a voluntarily acquired legal obligations to respect, to protect and to fulfil the particular housing rights provisions contained in that treaty.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) The UDHR is the first major international agreement on human rights and forms a key part of the International Bill of Rights. It is considered to have been the inspiration to all subsequent human rights treaties. It is also the first human rights standard to recognise housing rights. Adopted and proclaimed by the General Assembly on 10 December 1948, Article 25 of the UDHR enshrines a specific right for everyone to adequate housing: Article 25: "Everyone has the right to a standard living adequate for the health and well- being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control."

International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) At the international level, the most significant articulation of the right to housing is found in the ICESCR. The ICESCR is a treaty and became law on 3 January 1976 and is now legally binding on more than 149 countries. The right to adequate housing is found in article 11(1). This is the most legally significant universal codification provision recognizing this right and has been subject to the greatest analysis, application and interpretation of all international legal sources of housing rights. Although the Covenant recognises the right to housing as a part of the larger right to an adequate standard of living, under international human rights law the right to adequate housing is understood as an independent or freestanding right. The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) is responsible for monitoring State party compliance with the Covenant.

Article 11(1): "The State parties to the present Covenant recognize the right of everyone to an adequate standard of living for himself and for his family, including adequate food, clothing and housing, and to the continuous improvement of living conditions. The States Parties will take appropriate steps to ensure the realization of this right, recognizing to this effect the essential importance of international co-operation based on free consent."

International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) The ICCPR is a treaty and became law on 23 March 1976 and is now legally binding on more than 156 countries. The ICCPR has increasingly been used to enforce housing rights. For instance, homelessness has been found to threaten violations of the right to life (Art. 4) and forced evictions have been found to contravene the right to be free from arbitrary or unlawful interference with the home. Housing rights violations may also violate the right to equal protect of the law.

Article 17 (1): "No one shall be subjected to arbitrary or unlawful interference with his [or her] privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to unlawful attacks on his [or her] honour and reputation.

(2) Everyone has the right to the protection of the law against such interference or attacks."

Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD) The CERD became law on 4 January 1969 and is currently legally binding on 158 countries. The UN Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD) monitors compliance with the Convention. The Convention expressly prohibits discrimination in the housing sector.

Article 5(e)(iii): "In compliance with the fundamental obligations laid down in article 2 of this Convention, State Parties undertake to prohibit and eliminate racial discrimination in all of its forma and to guarantee the right of everyone, without distinction as to race, colour, or national or ethnic origin to equality before the law, notability in the enjoyment of the following rights:…(e) in particular…(iii) the right to housing."

Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) The CEDAW became law on 3 September 1981 and is now legally binding on 163 countries. The UN Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women monitors State party compliance with the Convention. The Convention protects the rights of rural women to adequate housing.

Article 14(2)(h): "State Parties shall take all appropriate measures to eliminate discrimination against women in rural areas in order to ensure, on a basis of equality of men and women, that they participate in and benefit from rural development and, in particular, shall ensure to such women the right…(h) to enjoy adequate living conditions, particularly in relation to housing, sanitation, electricity and water supply, transport and communications."

Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) The CRC became law on 2 September 1990 and is now legally binding on 191 countries. The Committee on the Rights of the Child monitors State party compliance with the Convention. The Convention protects the housing rights of children.

Article 27(3): "State Parties in accordance with national conditions and within their means shall take appropriate measure to assist parents and others responsible for the child to implement this right and

shall in the case of need provide material assistance and support programmes, particularly with regards to nutrition, clothing and housing."