PILA & CAN: The European Social Charter, how can NGO’s best use the Collective Complaint Procedure? – 10 May, Dublin

Date:                 10 May 2018

Time:                 11.00am – 13.00pm

Venue:              FLAC, 85-86 Dorset Street Upper, Dublin 1

The European Social Charter is a Council of Europe treaty that guarantees fundamental social and economic rights. It guarantees a broad range of everyday human rights related to employment, housing, health, education, social protection and welfare.

A monitoring mechanism is built into the Charter whereby States Parties are required to submit national reports. Additionally approved bodies (usually INGOs or trade unions) can lodge a ‘collective complaint’ against a State Party alleging non-compliance with the rights protected by the Charter. Introduced at a later stage the aim of the collective complaints procedure was to increase the effectiveness, speed and impact of the implementation of the Charter by States Parties.

The objective of the seminar will be to increase knowledge and understanding of the collective complaints procedure and its utilisation by national organisations. It will unpack and explore findings of violations by Ireland through the use of this procedure. Focus will be placed on the effectiveness of the Charter to advance social and economic rights. We will hear from organisations and activists who have experience with the process and some of the challenges and implementation of decisions.

The seminar will be chaired by Cecilia Forrestal of Community Action Network with contributions from:

  • Ms Debbie Mulhall, Community Activist and representative of Rialto Rights in Action Group
  • Susan Fay, Solicitor
  • Rose-Marie Maughan, National Accommodation Officer of the Irish Traveller Movement
  • Ms Niamh Casey, Council of Europe, Strasbourg

The seminar will be interactive, with time for contributions from attendees and questions and answers.

To register for the event, please email Stephen Bourke at Stephen.Bourke@flac.ie.  

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