Council of Europe – European Committee of Social Rights (CoE – ECSR)
http://www.coe.int/t/dghl/monitoring/socialcharter/
Mission/Mandate:
“The mission of the European Committee of Social Rights (ECSR) is to judge that States party are in conformity in law and in practice with the provisions of the [1961] European Social Charter.
[…]
The Committee is composed of 151 independent, impartial experts, elected by the Committee of Ministers2 for a 6-year term of office, renewable once.”
Target group:
State Parties to the European Social Charter
Objective:
The ECSR receives periodical “national reports” submitted by State parties, on the basis of which it adopts conclusions as to the country’s compliance with the Charter provisions. The conclusions are then transmitted to a government comitee for comment, which in turn transfers them to the Committee of Ministers that draws recommendations based on these conclusions. (CoE ECSR website, http://www.coe.int/t/dghl/monitoring/socialcharter/ECSR/ECSRdefault_en.asp, accessed 4 December 2008)
Funding:
no information provided
Scope of reporting:
Geographic scope: State parties to the European Social Charter
Thematic scope: Provisions of the Social charter, divided into four thematic groups:
1) “Employment, training and equal opportunities”
2) “Health, social security and social protection”
3) “Labour Rights”
4) “Children, families, migrants”
Reporting methodology:
National reports are submitted to ECSR by governments of State parties on an annual basis. The reports are expected to provide country-specific information on a specific “part of the provisions” of the Social Charter”. “[E]ach provision of the Charter” (and the 1996 Revisede Social Charter) is expected to “be reported on once every four years.” (CoE ECSR website, http://www.coe.int/t/dghl/monitoring/socialcharter/ReportCalendar/CalendarNRS_en.asp, accessed 4 December 2008). ECSR generally requests States to include information on the “legal framework”, “measures taken”, as well as “pertinent figures, statistics or any other relevant information enabling an evaluation of the extent to which these provisions are applied”. Reports are often in the form of answers by the government (agency) to specific questions formulated by ECSR.
“Conclusions” are compiled by ECSR on the basis of national reports. They provide an assessment of information obtained. When deemed feasible (depending on the amount/accuracy of information), conclusions are drawn as to the country’s level of adherence to the specific Charter provisions covered in the national report. The “Conclusions” frequently contain requests for more in-depth information/clarification on specific issues, in which case conclusions are deferred to a later date. (see recent Conclusions available here: ECSR website, http://www.coe.int/t/dghl/monitoring/socialcharter/Conclusions/ConclusionsIndex_en.asp, accessed 4 December 2008)
Publication cycle:
National reports and Conclusions are published on an annual basis.
Languages:
Publications are published either in English or French
Navigation of website:
CoE ECSR homepage > “Country Factsheets” > select country
CoE ECSR homepage > “Reporting Procedure” >”National reports” > select country
CoE ECSR homepage > “Reporting Procedure” > “Conclusions” > “Conclusions by State” or “Conclusions by Year”
Additional references:
Stop Violence Against Women (Non-governmental organisation that seeks to promote women’s rights in Central and Eastern Europe and the some countries of the CIS region. Its website contains an assessment of the CPT that provides information on its role for NGOs and its procedures)
http://www.stopvaw.org/European_Committee_of_Social_Rights.html (accessed 4 December 2008).
