TRATTATI
INTERNATIONAL COVENANT ON ECONOMIC,
SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RIGHTS
Adopted and opened for signature, ratification and accession
by General Assembly resolution 2200A (XXI)
of 16 December 1966
entry into force 3 January 1976, in accordance with article 27
Preamble
The States Parties to the present Covenant,
Considering that, in accordance with
the principles proclaimed in the Charter of the United Nations, recognition
of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all
members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and
peace in the world,
Recognizing that these rights derive
from the inherent dignity of the human person,
Recognizing that, in accordance with
the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the ideal of free human beings
enjoying freedom from fear and want can only be achieved if conditions
are created whereby everyone may enjoy his economic, social and cultural
rights, as well as his civil and political rights,
Considering the obligation of States
under the Charter of the United Nations to promote universal respect
for, and observance of, human rights and freedoms,
Realizing that the individual, having
duties to other individuals and to the community to which he belongs,
is under a responsibility to strive for the promotion and observance
of the rights recognized in the present Covenant,
Agree upon the following articles:
PART I
Article 1
1. All peoples have the right of self-determination.
By virtue of that right they freely determine their political status
and freely pursue their economic, social and cultural development.
2. All peoples may, for their own ends, freely
dispose of their natural wealth and resources without prejudice to any
obligations arising out of international economic co-operation, based
upon the principle of mutual benefit, and international law. In no case
may a people be deprived of its own means of subsistence.
3. The States Parties to the present Covenant,
including those having responsibility for the administration of Non-Self-Governing
and Trust Territories, shall promote the realization of the right of
self-determination, and shall respect that right, in conformity with
the provisions of the Charter of the United Nations.
PART II
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. The States Parties to the present Covenant undertake to guarantee
that the rights enunciated in the present Covenant will be exercised
without discrimination of any kind as to race, colour, sex, language,
religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property,
birth or other status.
3. Developing countries, with due regard to human
rights and their national economy, may determine to what extent they
would guarantee the economic rights recognized in the present Covenant
to non-nationals.
Article 3
The States Parties to the present Covenant undertake
to ensure the equal right of men and women to the enjoyment of all economic,
social and cultural rights set forth in the present Covenant.
Article 4
The States Parties to the present Covenant recognize
that, in the enjoyment of those rights provided by the State in conformity
with the present Covenant, the State may subject such rights only to
such limitations as are determined by law only in so far as this may
be compatible with the nature of these rights and solely for the purpose
of promoting the general welfare in a democratic society.
Article 5
1. Nothing in the present Covenant may be interpreted
as implying for any State, group or person any right to engage in any
activity or to perform any act aimed at the destruction of any of the
rights or freedoms recognized herein, or at their limitation to a greater
extent than is provided for in the present Covenant.
2. No restriction upon or derogation from any
of the fundamental human rights recognized or existing in any country
in virtue of law, conventions, regulations or custom shall be admitted
on the pretext that the present Covenant does not recognize such rights
or that it recognizes them to a lesser extent.
PART III
Article 6
1. The States Parties to the present Covenant
recognize the right to work, which includes the right of everyone to
the opportunity to gain his living by work which he freely chooses or
accepts, and will take appropriate steps to safeguard this right.
2. The steps to be taken by a State Party to the
present Covenant to achieve the full realization of this right shall
include technical and vocational guidance and training programmes, policies
and techniques to achieve steady economic, social and cultural development
and full and productive employment under conditions safeguarding fundamental
political and economic freedoms to the individual.
Article 7
The States Parties to the present Covenant recognize
the right of everyone to the enjoyment of just and favourable conditions
of work which ensure, in particular:
(a) Remuneration which provides all workers, as
a minimum, with:
(i) Fair wages and equal remuneration for work
of equal value without distinction of any kind, in particular women
being guaranteed conditions of work not inferior to those enjoyed by
men, with equal pay for equal work;
(ii) A decent living for themselves and their
families in accordance with the provisions of the present Covenant;
(b) Safe and healthy working conditions;
(c) Equal opportunity for everyone to be promoted
in his employment to an appropriate higher level, subject to no considerations
other than those of seniority and competence;
(d) Rest, leisure and reasonable limitation of
working hours and periodic holidays with pay, as well as remuneration
for public holidays
Article 8
1. The States Parties to the present Covenant
undertake to ensure:
(a) The right of everyone to form trade unions
and join the trade union of his choice, subject only to the rules of
the organization concerned, for the promotion and protection of his
economic and social interests. No restrictions may be placed on the
exercise of this right other than those prescribed by law and which
are necessary in a democratic society in the interests of national security
or public order or for the protection of the rights and freedoms of
others;
(b) The right of trade unions to establish national
federations or confederations and the right of the latter to form or
join international trade-union organizations;
(c) The right of trade unions to function freely
subject to no limitations other than those prescribed by law and which
are necessary in a democratic society in the interests of national security
or public order or for the protection of the rights and freedoms of
others;
(d) The right to strike, provided that it is exercised
in conformity with the laws of the particular country.
2. This article shall not prevent the imposition of lawful restrictions
on the exercise of these rights by members of the armed forces or of
the police or of the administration of the State.
3. Nothing in this article shall authorize States
Parties to the International Labour Organisation Convention of 1948
concerning Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organize
to take legislative measures which would prejudice, or apply the law
in such a manner as would prejudice, the guarantees provided for in
that Convention.
Article 9
The States Parties to the present Covenant recognize
the right of everyone to social security, including social insurance.
Article 10
The States Parties to the present Covenant recognize
that:
1. The widest possible protection and assistance
should be accorded to the family, which is the natural and fundamental
group unit of society, particularly for its establishment and while
it is responsible for the care and education of dependent children.
Marriage must be entered into with the free consent of the intending
spouses.
2. Special protection should be accorded to mothers
during a reasonable period before and after childbirth. During such
period working mothers should be accorded paid leave or leave with adequate
social security benefits.
3. Special measures of protection and assistance
should be taken on behalf of all children and young persons without
any discrimination for reasons of parentage or other conditions. Children
and young persons should be protected from economic and social exploitation.
Their employment in work harmful to their morals or health or dangerous
to life or likely to hamper their normal development should be punishable
by law. States should also set age limits below which the paid employment
of child labour should be prohibited and punishable by law.
Article 11
1. The States Parties to the present Covenant
recognize the right of everyone to an adequate standard of living for
himself and 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.
2. The States Parties to the present Covenant,
recognizing the fundamental right of everyone to be free from hunger,
shall take, individually and through international co-operation, the
measures, including specific programmes, which are needed:
(a) To improve methods of production, conservation
and distribution of food by making full use of technical and scientific
knowledge, by disseminating knowledge of the principles of nutrition
and by developing or reforming agrarian systems in such a way as to
achieve the most efficient development and utilization of natural resources;
(b) Taking into account the problems of both food-importing
and food-exporting countries, to ensure an equitable distribution of
world food supplies in relation to need.
Article 12
1. The States Parties to the present Covenant
recognize the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable
standard of physical and mental health.
2. The steps to be taken by the States Parties
to the present Covenant to achieve the full realization of this right
shall include those necessary for:
(a) The provision for the reduction of the stillbirth-rate
and of infant mortality and for the healthy development of the child;
(b) The improvement of all aspects of environmental
and industrial hygiene;
(c) The prevention, treatment and control of epidemic,
endemic, occupational and other diseases;
(d) The creation of conditions which would assure
to all medical service and medical attention in the event of sickness.
Article 13
1. The States Parties to the present Covenant
recognize the right of everyone to education. They agree that education
shall be directed to the full development of the human personality and
the sense of its dignity, and shall strengthen the respect for human
rights and fundamental freedoms. They further agree that education shall
enable all persons to participate effectively in a free society, promote
understanding, tolerance and friendship among all nations and all racial,
ethnic or religious groups, and further the activities of the United
Nations for the maintenance of peace.
2. The States Parties to the present Covenant
recognize that, with a view to achieving the full realization of this
right:
(a) Primary education shall be compulsory and
available free to all;
(b) Secondary education in its different forms,
including technical and vocational secondary education, shall be made
generally available and accessible to all by every appropriate means,
and in particular by the progressive introduction of free education;
(c) Higher education shall be made equally accessible
to all, on the basis of capacity, by every appropriate means, and in
particular by the progressive introduction of free education;
(d) Fundamental education shall be encouraged
or intensified as far as possible for those persons who have not received
or completed the whole period of their primary education;
(e) The development of a system of schools at
all levels shall be actively pursued, an adequate fellowship system
shall be established, and the material conditions of teaching staff
shall be continuously improved.
3. The States Parties to the present Covenant
undertake to have respect for the liberty of parents and, when applicable,
legal guardians to choose for their children schools, other than those
established by the public authorities, which conform to such minimum
educational standards as may be laid down or approved by the State and
to ensure the religious and moral education of their children in conformity
with their own convictions.
4. No part of this article shall be construed
so as to interfere with the liberty of individuals and bodies to establish
and direct educational institutions, subject always to the observance
of the principles set forth in paragraph I of this article and to the
requirement that the education given in such institutions shall conform
to such minimum standards as may be laid down by the State.
Article 14
Each State Party to the present Covenant which,
at the time of becoming a Party, has not been able to secure in its
metropolitan territory or other territories under its jurisdiction compulsory
primary education, free of charge, undertakes, within two years, to
work out and adopt a detailed plan of action for the progressive implementation,
within a reasonable number of years, to be fixed in the plan, of the
principle of compulsory education free of charge for all.
Article 15
1. The States Parties to the present Covenant
recognize the right of everyone:
(a) To take part in cultural life;
(b) To enjoy the benefits of scientific progress
and its applications;
(c) To benefit from the protection of the moral
and material interests resulting from any scientific, literary or artistic
production of which he is the author.
2. The steps to be taken by the States Parties to the present Covenant
to achieve the full realization of this right shall include those necessary
for the conservation, the development and the diffusion of science and
culture.
3. The States Parties to the present Covenant
undertake to respect the freedom indispensable for scientific research
and creative activity.
4. The States Parties to the present Covenant
recognize the benefits to be derived from the encouragement and development
of international contacts and co-operation in the scientific and cultural
fields.
PART IV
Article 16
1. The States Parties to the present Covenant
undertake to submit in conformity with this part of the Covenant reports
on the measures which they have adopted and the progress made in achieving
the observance of the rights recognized herein.
2.
(a) All reports shall be submitted to the Secretary-General
of the United Nations, who shall transmit copies to the Economic and
Social Council for consideration in accordance with the provisions of
the present Covenant;
(b) The Secretary-General of the United Nations
shall also transmit to the specialized agencies copies of the reports,
or any relevant parts therefrom, from States Parties to the present
Covenant which are also members of these specialized agencies in so
far as these reports, or parts therefrom, relate to any matters which
fall within the responsibilities of the said agencies in accordance
with their constitutional instruments.
Article 17
1. The States Parties to the present Covenant
shall furnish their reports in stages, in accordance with a programme
to be established by the Economic and Social Council within one year
of the entry into force of the present Covenant after consultation with
the States Parties and the specialized agencies concerned.
2. Reports may indicate factors and difficulties
affecting the degree of fulfilment of obligations under the present
Covenant.
3. Where relevant information has previously been
furnished to the United Nations or to any specialized agency by any
State Party to the present Covenant, it will not be necessary to reproduce
that information, but a precise reference to the information so furnished
will suffice.
Article 18
Pursuant to its responsibilities under the Charter
of the United Nations in the field of human rights and fundamental freedoms,
the Economic and Social Council may make arrangements with the specialized
agencies in respect of their reporting to it on the progress made in
achieving the observance of the provisions of the present Covenant falling
within the scope of their activities. These reports may include particulars
of decisions and recommendations on such implementation adopted by their
competent organs.
Article 19
The Economic and Social Council may transmit to
the Commission on Human Rights for study and general recommendation
or, as appropriate, for information the reports concerning human rights
submitted by States in accordance with articles 16 and 17, and those
concerning human rights submitted by the specialized agencies in accordance
with article 18.
Article 20
The States Parties to the present Covenant and
the specialized agencies concerned may submit comments to the Economic
and Social Council on any general recommendation under article 19 or
reference to such general recommendation in any report of the Commission
on Human Rights or any documentation referred to therein.
Article 21
The Economic and Social Council may submit from
time to time to the General Assembly reports with recommendations of
a general nature and a summary of the information received from the
States Parties to the present Covenant and the specialized agencies
on the measures taken and the progress made in achieving general observance
of the rights recognized in the present Covenant.
Article 22
The Economic and Social Council may bring to the
attention of other organs of the United Nations, their subsidiary organs
and specialized agencies concerned with furnishing technical assistance
any matters arising out of the reports referred to in this part of the
present Covenant which may assist such bodies in deciding, each within
its field of competence, on the advisability of international measures
likely to contribute to the effective progressive implementation of
the present Covenant.
Article 23
The States Parties to the present Covenant agree
that international action for the achievement of the rights recognized
in the present Covenant includes such methods as the conclusion of conventions,
the adoption of recommendations, the furnishing of technical assistance
and the holding of regional meetings and technical meetings for the
purpose of consultation and study organized in conjunction with the
Governments concerned.
Article 24
Nothing in the present Covenant shall be interpreted
as impairing the provisions of the Charter of the United Nations and
of the constitutions of the specialized agencies which define the respective
responsibilities of the various organs of the United Nations and of
the specialized agencies in regard to the matters dealt with in the
present Covenant.
Article 25
Nothing in the present Covenant shall be interpreted
as impairing the inherent right of all peoples to enjoy and utilize
fully and freely their natural wealth and resources.
PART V
Article 26
1. The present Covenant is open for signature
by any State Member of the United Nations or member of any of its specialized
agencies, by any State Party to the Statute of the International Court
of Justice, and by any other State which has been invited by the General
Assembly of the United Nations to become a party to the present Covenant.
2. The present Covenant is subject to ratification.
Instruments of ratification shall be deposited with the Secretary-General
of the United Nations.
3. The present Covenant shall be open to accession
by any State referred to in paragraph 1 of this article.
4. Accession shall be effected by the deposit
of an instrument of accession with the Secretary-General of the United
Nations.
5. The Secretary-General of the United Nations shall inform all States
which have signed the present Covenant or acceded to it of the deposit
of each instrument of ratification or accession.
Article 27
1. The present Covenant shall enter into force three months after the
date of the deposit with the Secretary-General of the United Nations
of the thirty-fifth instrument of ratification or instrument of accession.
2. For each State ratifying the present Covenant or acceding to it after
the deposit of the thirty-fifth instrument of ratification or instrument
of accession, the present Covenant shall enter into force three months
after the date of the deposit of its own instrument of ratification
or instrument of accession.
Article 28
The provisions of the present Covenant shall extend to all parts of
federal States without any limitations or exceptions.
Article 29
1. Any State Party to the present Covenant may propose an amendment
and file it with the Secretary-General of the United Nations. The Secretary-General
shall thereupon communicate any proposed amendments to the States Parties
to the present Covenant with a request that they notify him whether
they favour a conference of States Parties for the purpose of considering
and voting upon the proposals. In the event that at least one third
of the States Parties favours such a conference, the Secretary-General
shall convene the conference under the auspices of the United Nations.
Any amendment adopted by a majority of the States Parties present and
voting at the conference shall be submitted to the General Assembly
of the United Nations for approval.
2. Amendments shall come into force when they have been approved by
the General Assembly of the United Nations and accepted by a two-thirds
majority of the States Parties to the present Covenant in accordance
with their respective constitutional processes.
3. When amendments come into force they shall be binding on those States
Parties which have accepted them, other States Parties still being bound
by the provisions of the present Covenant and any earlier amendment
which they have accepted.
Article 30
Irrespective of the notifications made under article 26, paragraph 5,
the Secretary-General of the United Nations shall inform all States
referred to in paragraph I of the same article of the following particulars:
(a) Signatures, ratifications and accessions under article 26;
(b) The date of the entry into force of the present Covenant under article
27 and the date of the entry into force of any amendments under article
29.
Article 31
1. The present Covenant, of which the Chinese, English, French, Russian
and Spanish texts are equally authentic, shall be deposited in the archives
of the United Nations.
2. The Secretary-General of the United Nations shall transmit certified
copies of the present Covenant to all States referred to in article
26.
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