6
the right “[t]o access and maintain benefits whether in cash or in kind, without discrimination,
in order to secure protection, inter alia, from […] a lack of work-related income.”28
14.
The CESCR has also indicated “a number of essential factors” that apply in any situation
or circumstance, namely: (i) availability; (ii) social risks and contingencies: (a) health care,
(b) sickness, (c) old age, (d) unemployment, (e) unemployment injury, (f) family and child
support, (g) maternity, (h) disability, and (i) survivors and orphans; (iii) adequacy; (iv)
accessibility: (a) coverage, (b) eligibility, (c) affordability, (d) participation and information,
and (e) physical access.29
15.
It is worth pointing out that the CESCR has declared the violation of the right to social
security in its system of individual communications. In 2017, the CESCR ruled on this issue in
Trujillo Calero v. Ecuador, based on General Comments No. 6 (older persons) and No. 19
(social security; according to the CESCR, “the right to social security is of central importance
in guaranteeing human dignity.”30 It has also considered that Article 9 of the Covenant
“implicitly recognizes the right to old-age benefits.”31
b) African system of human rights
16.
Under the African system, the right to social security is not included in the 1991 African
Charter of Human and Peoples’ Rights. Moreover, although the African Charter explicitly
includes social rights, a number of social rights are missing. Thus, the Banjul Charter does not
expressly refer to adequate living standards (including the right to food, clothing and housing),
the right to social security, or the benefits of scientific advances. These “missing” rights in the
Banjul Charter relate to the socio-economic necessities of the African peoples who are
predominantly rural and impoverished and who have limited access to safe drinking water,
adequate housing, food, etc.32 The adoption, in 2016, of the Protocol to the African Charter on
Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Older Persons in Africa 33 was an important step
forward, and its Article 7 (Social Protection) establishes that the “States Parties shall: 1.
Develop policies and legislation that ensure that older persons who retire from their
employment are provided with adequate pensions and other forms of social security.”
c) European system of human rights
17.
The European Court of Human Rights (hereinafter “the European Court”) has
understood that the benefits of the social security system may be considered a possession to
Cf. UN, Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, General Comment No. 19, The right to social
security (Article 9), Adopted on November 23, 2007, para. 2 and Case of Muelle Flores v. Peru. Preliminary objections,
merits, reparations and costs. Judgment of March 6, 2019. Series C No. 375, para. 186
28
Cf. Case of Muelle Flores v. Peru. Preliminary objections, merits, reparations and costs. Judgment of March 6,
2019. Series C No. 375, paras. 178 to 193.
29
Trujillo Calero v. Ecuador, Communication 10/2015, E/C.12/63/D/10/2015, March 26, 2018, para. 11.1.
Similarly, see: UN, Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, General Comment No. 19, The right to social
security (Article 9), February 4, 2008, paras. 1 to 3; and López Rodríguez v. Spain, Communication 1/2013,
E/C.12/57/D/1/2013, April 20, 2016, paras. 10.1 and 10.2.
30
Cf. UN, Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, General Comment No. 6 (1995) The Economic,
Social and Cultural Rights of Older Persons para. 10, and Cf. UN, Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights,
General Comment No. 19, The right to social security (Article 9), February 4, 2008, para. 10.
31
Cf. Alemahu Yeshanew, Sisay, The Justiciability of Economics, Social and Cultural Rights in the African Regional
Human Rights System, Intersentia, Cambridge, 2013, p. 241.
32
Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Older Persons in Africa, adopted
on July 31, 2016, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
33