Part I Defining the issues to be monitored In interpreting the State’s obligations in relation to ESCR, courts have developed tests to judge legislative or administrative action. These are commonly framed using concepts such as “reasonableness”, “adequacy” and “proportionality”. In December 2008, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. The Optional Protocol establishes mechanisms for hearing individual complaints, for inter-State communications and for addressing grave or systemic violations of ESCR. It came into force in May 2013. Once the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights begins to issue decisions under the Optional Protocol, these will offer another source of jurisprudence on ESCR. 2.4. WHAT ARE STATES OBLIGED TO DO IN RELATION TO ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL RIGHTS? The right to health does not mean that individuals have a right to be healthy, nor does the right to housing imply that the State should provide everyone with a house. However, rights do impose obligations on the State about how it should act. Article 2(1) of ICESCR spells out in general terms what States are expected to do to advance ESCR. Many regional treaties and national constitutions use similar formulations. The elements of article 2(1), which have been further clarified through the interpretations of courts, international human rights bodies and other experts, are outlined below. INTERNATIONAL COVENANT ON ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RIGHTS, ARTICLE 2(1) Each State Party to the present Covenant undertakes to take steps, individually and through international assistance and co-operation, especially economic and technical, to the maximum of its available resources, with a view to achieving progressively the full realization of the rights recognized in the present Covenant by all appropriate means, including particularly the adoption of legislative measures. 2.4.1. Three levels of obligations It is widely recognized that ICESCR imposes three levels of obligations on States: to respect, to protect and to fulfil. Failure to meet any one of these obligations constitutes a violation of the Covenant. By understanding these different types of obligations, it becomes easier to identify different types of violations and to also demonstrate that meeting ESCR obligations is not always resource-intensive. Obligation to respect This obligation requires States to refrain from interfering with the enjoyment of ESCR. It prohibits the State from taking any action or imposing any measure that is contrary to the rights guaranteed in law. For this reason, it is sometimes referred to as a “negative” obligation. For example, arbitrary forced evictions by the State would violate this obligation. Obligation to protect This obligation requires States to prevent violations of ESCR by other actors, such as businesses. Business activity can expose people to danger (e.g. from pollution), to exploitation (e.g. by denying fair wages and decent working conditions) or to marginalization (e.g. by displacement caused by large-scale projects). For example, if the State fails to take action when businesses pollute water sources, or if it fails to enact occupational safety laws that ensure safe labour conditions, it will violate this obligation. The State also has a duty to regulate the actions of individuals that may result in human rights violations. For example, if the State fails to stop landlords rejecting tenancy applications on the basis of ethnicity, or if it fails to take action to prevent or prosecute perpetrators of domestic violence, it will violate this obligation. Chapter 2: Economic, social and cultural rights standards | 21