ABSTRACT
The Maastricht Guidelines on Violations of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights1 (Maastricht Guidelines), formulated in 1997 as the collective understanding of a group of eminent international law experts of the contemporary status of the international law on the subject,2 describe the three-pronged obligations of States under international human rights law in the following terms:
Like civil and political rights, economic, social and cultural rights impose three different types of obligations on States: the obligations to respect, protect and fulfil. Failure to perform any one of these three obligations constitutes a violation of such rights. The obligation to respect requires States to refrain from interfering with the enjoyment of . . . rights. Thus, the right to housing is violated if the State engages in arbitrary forced evictions. The obligation to protect requires States to prevent violations of such rights by third parties. Thus, the failure to ensure that private employers comply with basic labour standards may amount to a violation of the right to work or the right to just and favourable conditions of work. The obligation to fulfil requires States to take appropriate legislative, administrative, budgetary, judicial or other measures towards the full realization of such rights. Thus, the failure of States to provide essential primary health care to those in need may amount to a violation.3
