What are Minimum Core Obligations?: Conceptualizing a Performative Standard for Economic, Social & Cultural Rights to Complement Progressive Realization

Abstract

The doctrine of minimum core obligations has emerged in the past few decades as part of United Nations international human rights law rhetoric with regard to the protection of economic, social and cultural rights. While the doctrine remains to be tested as a powerful instrument in the protection of those rights, there remain a number of problems that demand to be answered. One such problem – and arguably the main problem – is the uncertainty that persists with regard to the exact meaning, content, and practicality of the doctrine. The aim of this thesis is, therefore, to determine the purpose of the minimum core obligations doctrine and its implications. In this thesis, it is argued that the doctrine of progressive realization engrained in the Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights represents a standard of state performance that is both progressive and variable. The progressive and variable nature of progressive realization – while necessary for the protection of economic, social and cultural rights – is also the doctrines biggest flaw. In light of this fact, the doctrine of minimum core obligations complements progressive realization by constituting a performative standard that is immediate, complete, and universal.