The United Kingdom and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

Abstract This chapter explores how the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) has been of relevance for the British government in recent years and the British government's view on the nature and status of Covenant rights, in particular their susceptibility to incorporation into domestic law. It looks at the 1996 UK Report to the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ESCR Committee) under the Conservative administration and the 2001 UK Report under the ‘new’ Labour administration. It shows that both these reporting rounds revealed a significant disparity of views between the ESCR Committee and the British government as regards the susceptibility of Covenant rights to incorporation into UK law.