ABSTRACT
Irrespective of whether one adheres to the premise that human rights is an area of international law that is characterised by its own telos-oriented legal rules or not, the undeniable fact is that the protection of human rights was, and remains, one of the cornerstones of international legal regulation, and its content is one that constantly evolves. In such an ever-shifting normative landscape, the present book aims to examine the role of human rights in regulating adequate provision of essential public services. These services include, among others, access to water, electricity and healthcare services. Within that context, the goal of this chapter will be to shed some inquisitive light on the question of whether access to electricity,1 as one manifestation of access to energy, although not yet a recognised human right, may nonetheless be protected under existing human rights instruments.2 Essentially, the question can be stripped down to whether until (or if) access to energy and electricity becomes a recognised and regulated human right, its nucleus can in the meantime be found by virtue of interpretative methods to fall within the scope ratione materiae of existing human rights instruments.3
