Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Social Justice; India; Economic Rights'

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Oregon, 2002.<br>Typescript. Includes vita and abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 171-204). Also available for download via the World Wide Web; free to University of Oregon users.

In this study I investigate how and to what extent socio-economic rights litigation can be used as a pragmatic strategy in the struggle for social justice in South Africa. In response to arguments that litigation lacks potential to change the socio-economic conditions that poor people often contest, I examine its potential to create social transformation. My analysis is premised on the fact that the constitutional project promises to construct South African society among others on the pillar of social justice, where the potential of every individual to enjoy improved quality of life is guaranteed. However, I illustrate how apartheid legacy and the neo-liberal politics of the post-apartheid government have conspired to keep the poor in perpetual deprivation. While much has been achieved in terms of the provision of basic services, millions of South Africans continue to battle with escalating poverty, deprivation and inequalities in resource redistribution. Consequently, a number of academic commentaries on the post-apartheid experience have expressed uncertainty that the constitutional experiment will result in improve livelihood. In interrogating this claim I construct a theoretical analysis, from a socio-legal point of view, in which I explain the concept of socio-economic rights litigation. I examine the instrumental role of civil society, including the activism of social movements in converting political demands into legal claims framed in the language of socio-economic rights. I explain how recourse is had to the courts to challenge political conduct, to contest the unconstitutionality of state policies and to demand the fulfillment of political promises with the aim to achieve redistributive justice. In examining the context within which socio-economic rights litigation applies I identify three phases in its trajectory, which include a period of contestation, a first decade and a second decade of litigation. These phases illustrate significant trends that have developed in socio-economic rights litigation over the years. Thus I argue that socio-economic rights litigation has potential to engineer social transformation but that potential has not adequately been explored. Given the magnitude of socio-economic challenges that need to be redressed, I further argue that socio-economic rights litigation needs to be developed as a pragmatic strategy in the struggle to achieve social justice. To substantiate this argument I analyse the decisions of the Constitutional Court in Mazibuko, Modderklip, Abahlali baseMjondolo and Schubart Park to illustrate the practical dimensions how and to what extent litigating socio-economic rights has contributed to social transformation. Based on the analysis of the judgments, I identify certain determining and necessitating factors that either cause litigation to happen or facilitate the process. I then further examine some challenges and constraints that inhibit the potential of litigation with the aim to point out flaws that need to be overcome when planning future socio-economic rights litigation. I conclude by looking at prospects for the future of socio-economic rights litigation in driving not only social transformation but also in creating possibilities for the advancement of the law, the further development of jurisprudence on socio-economic rights as a pragmatic strategy in the broader commitment to achieve social justice. I argue that to develop the potential of litigation for social change entails developing a balanced jurisprudence that provides a forum for the prevalence of social justice to ensure that benefits accrue equitably to the poor.<br>Dissertation (LLM)--University of Pretoria, 2013.<br>gm2014<br>Public Law<br>unrestricted

Few legal developments in South Africa and elsewhere in the world in recent times have excited such controversy as the legal recognition of social and economic rights. South Africa has created a special place for itself in world affairs for being one of the countries that recognise socio-economic rights in a justiciable Bill of Rights. Partly this is in response to the appalling levels of poverty prevalent in the country which could potentially destabilise the new democracy. Improvement of the quality of life of every citizen is a crucial step in consolidating the constitutional democracy. The question that will face any court in giving effect to socio-economic rights is: how are these rights to be judicially enforced in a given context? The crux of this thesis lies in the resolution of this question. Firstly this thesis traces the philosophical foundations to the legal recognition of socio-economic rights. It is stated that the recognition of these rights in a justiciable bill of rights requires a conceptually sound understanding of the nature of obligations that these rights place on the state. It is emphasised that it is imperative that access to justice be facilitated to poor and vulnerable members of society for the realisation of the constitutional goal of addressing inequality. Particular concern and priority should in this context be given to women, children and the disabled. The study explores various judicial remedies and makes suggestions on new and innovative constitutional mechanisms for judicial enforcement of these rights. It is concluded that there is an important role to be played by civil society in giving meaningful effect to socio-economic rights.

The Belfast Agreement marked a political solution designed to end thirty years of violent social upheaval in Northern Ireland. One aspect of the proposed solution was the commitment to draft a Bill of Rights specific to Northern Ireland to 'supplement the rights contained within the ECHR.' The recent dismissive reception by the UK Government of the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission report containing recommendations for such a Bill of Rights demonstrates that their initial commitment seems to have substantially, perhaps irretrievably, faded. The document was largely dismissed on the twin grounds that such rights as it described were relevant to the UK as a whole and in any case by their nature not reducible to justiciable form, since this would abrogate the democratic accountability of the legislature. Underlying both objections are basic ideas about the constitutional status of Northern Ireland in the wider UK context, and the correct constitutional relationship between the legislature and the judiciary. This thesis, with the acknowledged purpose to keep the debate alive, revisits this territory of the case for constitutionally enforceable economic and social rights for Northern Ireland. It first seeks to examine whether there are indeed economic and social 'circumstances particular to Northern Ireland' that require a separate approach, irrespective of how this debate is or is not pursued in a wider UK context. It then examines the general issue of the justiciability of economic and social rights, both as a conceptual matter and as an aspect of developing international law. Analysis is then made, over two chapters, of case study jurisdictions which bear particular resonance to Northern Ireland, and, through these case studies, an expanded concept of 'reflexive constitutionality' is developed. In the fifth chapter this concept is then re-applied to the Northern Irish case. The overall conclusion is that the case for constitutionally protected economic and social rights for Northern Ireland is, in social and legal terms, a strong one, and that the current lack of political will is a misguided short-term approach that risks aggravating still prevalent social tensions.

In this thesis, the South African Constitutional Court’s emerging model for the adjudication of social and economic (SE) rights is used as a starting point from which to consider how courts may give effect to these rights whilst respecting principles of democratic decision-making. The court has chosen to measure government action in this area against a standard of reasonableness. Reasonableness has historically been employed as a highly deferential standard of judicial review in South Africa and other common law jurisdictions. It is also a flexible standard. These features have given rise to charges that an approach based on reasonableness cannot but result in vagueness and weak enforcement of SE rights. The argument in this thesis is that these flaws are not an inevitable consequence of a reasonableness-centred model for SE rights adjudication. The judges’ approach is informed by evolving notions of judicial restraint. A range of factors impact on the intensity of review in SE rights cases. These factors will be relevant, whatever the approach adopted, because courts are bound to adjudicate SE rights within the limits of their constitutional mandate and institutional expertise. The most effective way of creating greater legal certainty and consistency in the judgments is for both judges and litigators to engage with these underlying factors. This thesis draws on Indian and United Kingdom jurisprudence. Studies of both these jurisdictions show that political sensitivity is no longer an automatic bar to the justiciability of disputes. United Kingdom administrative law jurisprudence is used to show that reasonableness, as a standard of review, has the capacity to place onerous demands on government bodies. The Indian case-study serves as a warning against an ad hoc approach to judicial intervention and restraint in SE rights cases. Cases from this jurisdiction illustrate the importance of identifying and working with the factors that inform the intensity with which judges will interrogate government decision-making in SE rights disputes. This kind of engagement will allow courts to move towards a stronger, more principled approach to the rights.

Thesis (LLD (Public Law))—University of Stellenbosch, 2009.<br>ENGLISH SUMMARY: The point of departure of this dissertation is that transformation in South Africa depends on transformative politics – extra-institutional, substantive, oppositional, transformation-oriented politics. One challenge South Africa’s constitution therefore poses to courts is to take account of the impact of adjudication on transformative politics. The purpose of this dissertation is to investigate the relationship between adjudication and transformative politics within a specific context – adjudication of socio-economic rights cases. This relationship is commonly described in a positive light – either that adjudication of socio-economic rights cases promotes transformative politics by giving impoverished people access to the basic resources required for political participation; or that adjudication of such cases is in itself a space for transformative politics. Although there is much truth in both these descriptions, both under-estimate the extent to which adjudication also limits transformative politics. This dissertation focuses on the extent to which adjudication limits transformative politics – it comprises an analysis of socio-economic rights cases with the aim of showing how adjudication of these cases, despite positive results, also limited transformative politics. The theoretical aspects of this problem are outlined in the first chapter. After a description of the body of case law on which the analysis focuses two chapters follow in which two ways in which adjudication limits transformative politics are investigated. The first traces how courts in socio-economic rights cases participate in discourses about impoverishment that tend to describe the problem as non-political – specifically how courts tend to describe impoverishment as technical rather than political in nature; and how courts implicitly legitimise in their judgments liberal-capitalist views of impoverishment that insist that impoverishment is best addressed through the unregulated market. Then follows a chapter investigating how views of legal interpretation in terms of which legal materials have a certain and determinable meaning that can be mechanically found by courts limit transformative politics by insulating adjudication from critique and emphasising finality in adjudication. Throughout it is shown how courts can mitigate the limiting effects of adjudication, by legitimating the political agency of impoverished people, by using remedies requiring political engagement between opponents and postponing closure in adjudication, and by adopting a different approach to interpretation, that emphasises the pliability and relative indeterminacy of legal materials. Despite this, the conclusion of the dissertation is that courts can never wholly avoid the limiting impact of adjudication on transformative politics, but should rather aim to remain continually aware of it.<br>AFRIKAANS OPSOMMING: Die uitgangspunt van hierdie proefskrif is dat transformasie in Suid-Afrika afhang van transformatiewe politiek – buite-institusionele, substantiewe, opposisionele, transformasie-gerigte politiek. Een eis wat Suid-Afrika se grondwet daarom aan howe stel, is om ag te slaan op die impak van beregting op transformatiewe politiek. Die doel van hierdie proefskrif is om die verhouding tussen beregting en transformatiewe politiek binne ‘n spesifieke konteks – beregting van sake oor sosio-ekonomiese regte – te ondersoek. Meeste beskouinge van hierdie verhouding beskryf dit in ‘n positiewe lig - óf dat die beregting van sake oor sosio-ekonomiese regte transformatiewe politiek bevorder deur vir verarmde mense toegang tot basiese lewensmiddele te bewerkstellig sodat hulle aan politieke optrede kan deelneem; óf dat beregting van sulke sake opsigself ‘n spasie is vir transformatiewe politiek. Hoewel daar waarheid steek in beide beskrywings, onderskat hulle die mate waartoe beregting ook transformatiewe politiek kan beperk. Hierdie proefskrif fokus op hoe beregting transformatiewe politiek beperk - dit behels ‘n analise van sake oor sosio-ekonomiese regte met die doel om te wys hoe beregting van hierdie sake, ten spyte van kennelik positiewe gevolge ook transformatiewe politiek beperk het. Die teoretiese vergestalting van hierdie probleem word in die eerste hoofstuk beskou. Na ‘n beskrywing van die liggaam van regspraak waarop die analise fokus volg twee hoofstukke waarin twee maniere waarop beregting transformatiewe politiek beperk ondersoek word. Die eerste beskou hoe howe in sake oor sosio-ekonomiese regte deelneem aan diskoerse oor verarming wat neig om hierdie probleem as non-polities te beskryf - spesifiek hoe howe neig om hierdie problem as tegnies eerder as polities van aard te beskryf; en hoe howe liberaal-kapitalistiese sieninge van verarming, ingevolge waarvan verarming deur die ongereguleerde mark aangespreek behoort te word, implisiet in hul uitsprake legitimeer. Dan volg ‘n hoofstuk wat naspeur hoe sieninge van regsinterpretasie ingevolge waarvan regsmateriaal ‘n sekere en vasstelbare betekenis het wat meganies deur howe gevind word, transformatiewe politieke optrede beperk deur die openheid van beregting vir kritiek te beperk en finaliteit in beregting in die hand te werk. Deurgaans word gewys hoe howe die beperkende effek van beregting kan teëwerk, deur die politike agentskap van verarmde mense te legitimeer, deur remedies te gebruik wat politieke onderhandeling tussen opponente bewerkstellig en finale oplossings uitstel, en deur ‘n ander benadering tot interpretasie, wat die buigsaamheid en relatiewe onbepaalbaarheid van regsmateriaal erken, te omarm. Tog is die gevolgtrekking van die proefskrif dat howe nooit die beperkende effek van beregting op transformatiewe politiek geheel kan vermy nie, maar eerder deurgaans daarop bedag moet wees.

This thesis firstly explores the process and effects of social dialogue in the context of informal home-based workers in Gujarat, India, and secondly the applicability of Dryzek’s theory of discourse democracy on this case study. In doing this, the study investigates the potential of social dialogue and discourse democracy to work as instruments for improving the social and economic situation of the workers. The case study consists of how the organisation and trade union Self Employed Women’s Association (SEWA) communicate with influential actors in order to improve the social and economic situation of the informal home-based workers. The material is gathered through interviews with four organisers at SEWA, and observations made when visiting three areas of home-based workers. The empirical results are presented in a chapter demonstrating the process of social dialogue and its effect on the workers situation in this particular context. The second part of the results is a discussion where the theoretical framework, consisting of Dryzek’s discourse democracy and the critique of Habermas’s deliberative democracy that structure his theory, and the empirical findings are scrutinised in relation to each other; by discussing traits of the theories in connection to the case study. The thesis concludes that there are similarities between social dialogue in this case and the theory of discourse democracy, but the theory cannot wholly be used to conceptualise social dialogue. It demonstrated the importance of the communicative decision-making to admit a wide variety of kinds of communication and to involve an active civil society with support in the constitutional framework for improving the social and economic situation of the workers. However, it also indicates that other practices than communicative ones are necessary in this struggle.

This thesis is primarily concerned with the distribution of quotas in higher education and public employment within identified beneficiary groups. In a system of quotas based on preferential treatment of groups, the question about which members of the group must benefit over others is a crucial one. One of the main themes in the thesis is to critically analyse the judicial understanding about the nature of these groups. The homogeneity (in backwardness) that is attached to beneficiary groups in differing degrees is challenged in the thesis using the examples of Scheduled Castes and Muslims within the Other Backward Classes category. The differences within beneficiary groups have great significance for the fairness of India’s reservation policies. By ignoring internal differences, the most marginalised groups are left behind in terms of accessing the benefits of reservations. I have argued that any attempt to address the issue of sub-classification must begin by recognising multiple axis of marginalisation within the framework of intersectionality. This lack of sufficient engagement with the issue of sub-classification highlights the failure of the Supreme Court of India to develop a normative framework within which reservations might be viewed. This lack of normative clarity informs spheres of reservations like higher education and public employment along with according homogenous treatment to beneficiary groups internally. The Supreme Court has viewed reservations in higher education and public employment as essentially performing the same function. I have argued that reservations in these spheres perform different functions and the resulting obligations on the state in terms of constitutional justifications must also differ. While the demands for sub-classification present an opportunity to make distribution of reservations fairer, it also exposes the limitation of reservations as a tool of social transformation.

La diversité linguistique dans le monde est aujourd'hui une question d'importance sociale croissante, car la majorité de toutes les langues vivantes sont menacées dans leur existence. Il est indiqué que sur environ 6 000 langues existantes dans le monde, 200 ont disparu et 538 sont en danger critique d'extinction. La langue est le moyen par lequel nous transmettons nos idées, nos connaissances et notre identité d'une génération à l'autre. Il est prévu que 50% des plus de six mille langues actuellement parlées ne survivront pas au tournant du siècle. Et lorsque le dernier locuteur parlant couramment une langue meurt, nous perdons les siècles de connaissances et de traditions qui ont contribué à façonner qui nous sommes. Pour ces communautés, la préservation de leurs langues passe par la restauration de leurs identités culturelles, de leurs valeurs et de leur patrimoine. Avec la disparition des langues non écrites et sans papiers, l'humanité perdrait non seulement une richesse culturelle mais aussi d'importantes connaissances ancestrales ancrées, en particulier, dans les langues autochtones. Afin de souligner l'importance, l'Assemblée générale des Nations Unies, via la résolution numéro (A / Res / 71/178), a désigné 2019 comme “Année internationale des langues autochtones”.L'Inde est dotée et riche d'une diversité linguistique. Mais l'état de cette diversité est préoccupant. L’Organisation des Nations Unies pour l’éducation, la science et la culture - Atlas des langues en danger dans le monde déclare que l’Inde compte le plus grand nombre de langues en danger au monde, soit près de 196 langues en danger. C'est extrêmement important et inquiétant. Bien que la mise en danger des langues soit un phénomène mondial, l'Inde semble également confrontée à une mise en danger et à une réduction des domaines. Face à ce scénario, il est impératif d'arrêter cette tendance tant en Inde que dans le monde. Cette recherche cherche à trouver un remède soucieux de la justice à cet égard<br>Linguistic diversity in the world today is an issue of growing social importance, as the majority of all living languages are endangered in their existence. It is indicated that out of approximately 6000 languages existing in the world, 200 have disappeared and 538 are in critical danger of extinction. Language is the means by which we transmit our ideas, our knowledge and our identity from one generation to the next. It is predicted that 50% of the more than six thousand languages currently spoken will not survive the turn of the century. And when the last speaker fluent in a language dies, we lose the centuries of knowledge and traditions that helped shape who we are. For these communities, the preservation of their languages goes through the restoration of their cultural identities, their values and their heritage. With the disappearance of unwritten and undocumented languages, humanity would lose not only a cultural richness but also important ancestral knowledge anchored, in particular, in indigenous languages. In order to emphasize the importance, the United Nations General Assembly, through resolution number (A / Res / 71/178), has designated 2019 as the “International Year of Indigenous Languages”.India is endowed with and rich in linguistic diversity. But the state of this diversity is worrying. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization - Atlas of the World's Endangered Languages states that India has the highest number of endangered languages in the world, at nearly 196 endangered languages. It is extremely important and disturbing. Although language endangerment is a global phenomenon, India also appears to be facing endangerment and shrinking domains. Faced with this scenario, it is imperative to stop this trend both in India and in the world. This research seeks to find justice conscious remedy in this regards

Thesis (LL.M.)--Stellenbosch University, 2003.<br>ENGLISH ABSTRACT: In recognition of the socio-economic imbalances inherited from the past and the abject poverty experienced by many, the people of South Africa adopted a Constitution fully committed to protecting socio-economic rights and advancing social justice. Apartheid constituted a violation of every internationally recognised human right. Seen in this light the emphasis on socio-economic rights in the new South African Constitution represents a commitment to guarantee to everyone in society a certain minimum standard of living below which they will not be allowed to fall. As the Constitution recognises socio-economic rights as justiciable rights, they can be of assistance to those who are unable to support themselves when challenging the state for the non-delivery of basic services. The duty to deliver the services lies first with the state and the court becomes involved only once it is alleged that the state has failed to fulfil its duty. The primary purpose of the study is aimed at determining the effectiveness of the South African Human Rights Commission in monitoring court orders in respect of the implementation of socio-economic rights. Non-Governmental Organisations, involved in the promotion and protection of human rights including socio-economic rights, cannot be left out of the process. It is argued that where the Courts issue structural interdicts, which have of late been used by them, albeit not enough in the context of socio-economic rights, they are responsible for the implementation of such orders. It is also argued that the South African Human Rights Commission and NGOs must be enjoined to ensure that court orders are better implemented. Court orders in respect of socio-economic rights in almost all the cases to date were neither implemented nor monitored adequately.<br>AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Ter erkenning van die sosio-ekonomiese ongelykhede wat post-apartheid Suid- Afrika geërf het en die volslae armoede waaraan talle Suid-Afrikaners onderwerp is, het die mense van Suid-Afrika 'n grondwet aanvaar wat verbonde is tot die beskerming van sosio-ekonomiese regte en die bevordering van maatskaplike geregtigheid. Apartheid het elke internasionaal-erkende mensereg geskend. Teen hierdie agtergrond verteenwoordig die klem op sosioekonomiese regte in die nuwe Suid-Afrikaanse grondwet 'n verbondenheid daartoe om vir elkeen in die maatskappy 'n bepaalde minimum lewensstandaard te waarborg, waaronder hulle nie toegelaat sal word om te sak nie. Aangesien die grondwet sosio-ekonomiese regte as beregbare regte erken, kan hierdie regte van nut wees vir mense wat hulself nie kan onderhou nie, as hulle die staat uitdaag omdat basiese dienste nie gelewer word nie. Die plig om dienste te lewer berus eerstens by die staat, met die gevolg dat die hof eers betrokke raak as die staat nie daarin slaag om sy plig te vervul nie. Die primêre doel van hierdie studie is om vas te stel hoe effektief die Suid- Afrikaanse Menseregtekommissie is met die monitering van hofbevele wat betrekking het op die verwesenliking van sosio-ekonomiese regte. Nieregeringsinstansies wat betrokke is by die bevordering en beserkming van menseregte, met inbegrip van sosio-ekonomiese regte, kan egter nie uit die proses gelaat word nie. In hierdie studie word aangevoer dat waar die strukturele interdikte gee, soos wat in die onlangse verlede gebeur het, selfs al is dit nie genoeg in die konteks van sosio-ekonomiese regte nie, hulle ook verantwoordelikheid is daarvoor dat sulke bevele uitgevoer word. Dit word verder gestel dat die Suid-Afrikaanse Menseregtekommissie en nieregeringsinstansies moet saamwerk om te verseker dat hofbevele beter uitgevoer word. Tot op datum is amper geen hofbevele oor sosio-ekonomiese regte bevredigend uitgevoer of genoegsaam gemoniteer nie.

Esta dissertação tem o objetivo de analisar a relação entre a eficácia do direito à moradia e o acesso à justiça. A base analítica que subjaz é o paradigma democrático do Direito, enquanto fator legitimador do poder político devido à institucionalização de valores reconhecidos pela sociedade por meio das normas positivadas , e da efetividade dos Direitos Econômicos e Sociais. A complexidade das relações sociais e econômicas que derivam cada tipo de Direitos Econômicos e Sociais demonstra que a efetividade desses direitos demandam ações do Estado que não se limitam à prestação material do bem acolhido na norma constitucional. Para que os Direitos Fundamentais possam ser efetivos contra a arbitrariedade do Estado e de atores privados em obstruir o acesso e fruição dos bens, a dimensão da defesa e proteção dos Direitos Econômicos e Sociais em particular, o direito à moradia se mostra fundamental. Uma observação atenta das disputas entre segmentos vulneráveis da sociedade e poderosas corporações que tomam corpo no espaço urbano (considerando que o acesso à terra é uma oportunidade para gerar grandes lucros) mostra que os conflitos tendem a crescer com anuência do próprio Estado. Este trabalho organiza-se em torno da Análise da norma jurídica pelas qualificadoras: Validade, Justiça, Eficácia e Efetividade, cujo objetivo é a análise dogmática da adequação das normas acolhedoras dos Direitos Fundamentais ao ordenamento jurídico e demonstração da base democrática como fundamento para a legitimidade e validade das normas. A reflexão buscou mostrar a diferenciação entre eficácia jurídica, por um lado, e eficácia social objeto dessa dissertação , por outro. No entanto, a complementaridade entre ambos os institutos jurídicos não é desconsiderada. A Dimensão de defesa e proteção dos Direitos Econômicos e Sociais é discutida com base na observação empírica das relações econômicas implicadas no direito à moradia. Essa dimensão é apresentada como função essencial para o acesso e fruição dos Direitos Fundamentais. A Função Regulatória do Direito é observada na perspectiva da igualdade material atingida por meio da cooperação entre os indivíduos na perspectiva do desenvolvimento econômico e social baseado na distribuição de seus benefícios. O Acesso à Justiça diz respeito ao conceito de acesso ao direito como institucionalização de um processo democrático baseado na igualdade e centrado na participação popular, que possibilita a criação de ambiente propício a uma hermenêutica centrada nas condições materiais dos conflitos levados ao Judiciário.<br>This dissertation aims at analyzing the correlation between the effectiveness of the right to housing and the access to justice. The analytical underpinning will be the democratic legal paradigm as legitimizing factor of both the political power due to the institutionalization of values recognized by the society via positive norms and the effectiveness of economic and social rights. The complexity of social and economic relations that follows from each type of economic and social rights demands state actions beyond the material provision of the good embodied by the constitutional Law. In order for the fundamental rights to be effective against the arbitrariness of the State and private actors in obstructing access and fruition of goods, the dimension of defense and protection of economic and social rights in particular, the right to housing becomes paramount. An exam of the disputes between vulnerable segments of the society and powerful corporations that take place in the urban arena (considering that access to land is an opportunity for generating great amounts of profit) shows that conflicts tend to escalate through consent given by the State itself. The analysis of the legal norms proposed in this dissertation is centered on the following qualifiers: validation, justice, effectiveness and effectivity. The aim is to offer a dogmatic analysis of the fundamental rights\' embodied norms, proofing their adequacy to the legal system. It will be argued that a democratic basis is the foundation for the legitimation and validity of the norms. These considerations point out the differentiation between legal effectiveness, on the one hand, and social effectiveness which is the subject of this dissertation on the other hand. However, the complementarity between both legal institutions is not dismissed. The dimension of defense and protection of economic and social rights is discussed on the basis of empirical observation of the economic relations implied in the right to housing. This dimension is presented as having an essential role in the access and fruition of fundamental rights. The regulative function of the Law is regarded from the perspective of material equality achieved through cooperation among individuals, in which economic and social development is based on the distribution of goods. Access to justice refers to legal access as institutionalization of a democratic process based on equality and focused on grassroots participation. It fosters the proper conditions for the development of an hermeneutic centered in the material conditions of the conflicts that are taken to the judiciary.

This thesis inquires into the meaning of the right to security of person. This right is found in many international, regional and domestic human rights instruments. However, academic discourse reveals disagreement about the meaning of the right. The thesis first considers case law from the European Convention on Human Rights, the South African Bill of Rights and the Canadian Charter. The analysis shows that courts too disagree about the meaning of the right to security of person. The thesis then takes a theoretical approach to understanding the meaning of the right. It is argued that the concept of ‘security’ establishes that the right imposes both positive and negative duties but that ‘security’ does not determine which interests are protected by the right. For this, we need consider the meaning of the ‘person’. The notion of personhood as understood in the ‘capabilities approach’ of Amartya Sen and Martha Nussbaum is then introduced. It is suggested that this theory could be used to identify the interests protected by the right. Next, the theoretical developments are applied to the legal context in order to illustrate the variety of interests the right to security of person would protect and the type of duties it would impose. As a result, it is argued that the idea of ‘security of person’ is too broad to form the subject matter of an individual legal right. This raises a question over the relationship between security of person and human rights law. It is proposed that instead of recognising an individual legal right to security of person, human rights law as a whole could be seen as a mechanism to secure the person, the capabilities approach determining what it takes to fulfil a right and thereby secure the person.

This thesis considers the extent to which the International Criminal Court's Office of the Prosecutor ('OTP') has been successful in realising its self-defined mandate of ending impunity in Kenya. In particular, it focuses on the OTP's attempts to encourage domestic investigations and prosecutions as part of its strategy of positive complementarity. This strategy has been hailed as being the best and perhaps the only way that the OTP may use its finite resources to make a significant contribution to ending impunity. Despite this, no empirical study has been published that evaluates the effectiveness of this strategy and the impact that it has on ending impunity in the targeted situation country. This thesis seeks to address this gap in the literature by conducting a case study on the OTP's implementation of its strategy of positive complementarity in Kenya following that country's post-election violence in 2007/08. In doing so, I also hope to make a modest contribution to existing debates over the effectiveness of the ICC as an institution as well as international criminal justice and transitional justice more generally.

To effectively prevent and mitigate the outbreak of natural disasters is a more pressing issue in the twenty-first century than ever before. The frequency and cost of natural disasters is rising globally, most especially in developing countries where the most severe effects of climate change are felt. However, while climate change is indeed a strong force impacting the severity of contemporary catastrophes, it is not directly responsible for the exorbitant cost of the damage and suffering incurred from natural disasters -- both financially and in terms of human life. Rather, the true root causes of natural disasters lie within the power systems at play in any given society when these regions come into contact with a hazard event. Historic processes of isolation, oppression, and exploitation, combined with contemporary international power systems, interact in complex ways to affect different socioeconomic classes distinctly. The result is to create vulnerability and scarcity among the most defenseless communities. These processes affect a society’s ideological orientation and their cultural norms, empowering some while isolating others. When the resulting dynamic socio-political pressures and root causes come into contact with a natural hazard, a disaster is likely to follow due to the high vulnerability of certain groups and their inability to adapt as conditions change. In this light, the following discussion exposes the anthropogenic roots of natural disasters by conducting a detailed case analysis of natural disasters in Haiti, Ethiopia, and Nepal.

A partir da Constituição Federal de 1988, são introduzidos novos contornos ao ordenamento jurídico brasileiro. O texto constitucional incorpora diversos direitos sociais e dá caráter normativo a princípios de justiça social. No direito privado, verifica-se, também, a introdução de um conteúdo social por meio da inserção de cláusulas gerais na legislação infraconstitucional, especialmente no que diz respeito aos contratos. Nesse novo quadro institucional, o Poder Judiciário passa a ocupar lugar de destaque, pois há um deslocamento de decisões políticas e sociais dos Poderes Legislativo e Executivo para o Judiciário. Observa-se um crescimento exponencial da judicialização de casos envolvendo os direitos sociais, principalmente no que tange a questões relacionadas à saúde. A judicialização tem atingido também as relações contratuais entre particulares. Todavia, nessa atuação do Judiciário podem ser identificados problemas, como a falta de preocupação com os impactos produzidos pelas decisões na sociedade. Dentro desse contexto, o objetivo do presente trabalho é analisar empiricamente a forma como os ministros do Superior Tribunal de Justiça decidem conflitos contratuais no campo da saúde suplementar. Para tanto, a primeira parte do trabalho é dedicada à caracterização e contextualização do setor da saúde suplementar brasileiro. Após, relato de forma breve o histórico de sua regulamentação. A segunda parte do trabalho aborda os principais aspectos jurídicos e econômicos que envolvem os contratos de plano de saúde. Na terceira parte, são apresentados os resultados quantitativos obtidos a partir de coleta e sistematização de dados das decisões judiciais analisadas. Por fim, na quarta e última parte do trabalho, é feito um esforço de reflexão crítica acerca dos argumentos trazidos pelos ministros do STJ, a luz, principalmente, da literatura de análise econômica do direito, sendo verificado se há alguma relação, ainda que hipotética, entre a forma de decidir dos juízes e possíveis efeitos socioeconômicos apontados pela doutrina.<br>From the 1988 Brazilian Constitution, are introduced alterations in the Brazilian legal system. The Constitution incorporates many social rights and gives normative character to principles of social justice. In private law, there is also the introduction of a social content through insertion of general terms in the infra-constitutional legislation, especially as regards contracts. In this new institutional framework, the Judiciary holds a prominent place, because there is a shift of political and social decisions of the Legislative and Executive to the Judiciary. There is an exponential growth of judicialization of cases involving social rights, especially in regard to health issues. The judicialization has also reached the contractual relations among individuals. However, problems can be identified in this proceeding of the Judiciary, such as lack of concern about the impacts of the decisions in society. In this context, the aim of this study is to analyze empirically how the justices of the Superior Court of Justice decide contract disputes in the private healthcare sector. In order to do such, the first part of the work is dedicated to the characterization and contextualization of Brazilian private healthcare sector. After, it is briefly presented the history of its regulation. The second part addresses the main legal and economic aspects involving health insurance contracts. In the third part, I present the quantitative results obtained from data collection and systematization of judicial decisions analyzed. Finally, in the fourth and final part of the work, a critic effort is made to analyze the arguments brought by justices of the Superior Court of Justice, in the light of the economic analysis of law, and also examined whether there is any relationship, even though hypothetical, between how the judges decide possible socioeconomic effects pointed by doctrine.

The Capability Approach was initially developed by Nobel laureate Amartya Sen, with the first basic articulation presented in his 1979 ‘Equality of What?’ Tanner Lecture. Since then, the approach has gained a huge amount of attention as a conceptual framework which offers a clear and insightful way to measure well-being and development. Most recently, the approach has been refined and extended by Martha Nussbaum to issues of disability, nationality, and species membership in political philosophy. This project is about the foundations of the capability approach. More specifically, this project asks whether we can, and whether there are good reasons to, strengthen those foundations. The conclusions drawn here are that we ought to think seriously about the way that the capability approach develops as a theory that responds to real world challenges and change. More importantly, this project contends – in light of the challenges of future people and indigenous peoples – that there is good reason to think of new ways to ground the approach. This project takes up this challenge and grounds the approach in a modified version of Tim Mulgan’s approach to well-being. This project demonstrates that this alternative enriches the capability approach by providing us with a way of making sense of important problems, and with options for moving forward. Overall, this project asks important questions about how the capability approach could evolve based on challenges that remain relatively under-explored in the current literature. This project contributes to this literature by demonstrating that we can and ought to strengthen the capability approach and its ability to understand, take on board, and resolve these challenges.

Diese Arbeit bietet eine solide theoretische Grundlage zu Philanthropie und religiös motivierten Spendenaktivitäten und deren Einfluss auf Wohltätigkeitstrends, Entwicklungszusammenarbeit und einer auf dem Gedanken der sozialen Gerechtigkeit beruhenden Philanthropie. Untersucht werden dafür die Strukturen religiös motivierte Spenden, für die in der islamischen Tradition die Begriffe „zakat“, „Waqf“ oder im Plural auch „awqaf-“ oder „Sadaqa“ verwendet werden, der christliche Begriff dafür lautet „tithes“ oder „ushour“. Aufbauend auf diesem theoretischen Rahmenwerk analysiert die qualitative und quantitative Feldstudie auf nationaler Ebene, wie die ägyptische Öffentlichkeit Philanthropie, soziale Gerechtigkeit, Menschenrechte, Spenden, Freiwilligenarbeit und andere Konzepte des zivilgesellschaftlichen Engagements wahrnimmt. Um eine umfassende und repräsentative Datengrundlage zu erhalten, wurden 2000 Haushalte, 200 zivilgesellschaftliche Organisationen erfasst, sowie Spender, Empfänger, religiöse Wohltäter und andere Akteure interviewt. Die so gewonnen Erkenntnisse lassen aussagekräftige Aufschlüsse über philanthropische Trends zu. Erstmals wird so auch eine finanzielle Einschätzung und Bewertung der Aktivitäten im lokalen Wohltätigkeitsbereich möglich, die sich auf mehr als eine Billion US-Dollar beziffern lassen. Die Erhebung weist nach, dass gemessen an den Pro-Kopf-Aufwendungen die privaten Spendenaktivitäten weitaus wichtiger sind als auswärtige wirtschaftliche Hilfe für Ägypten. Das wiederum lässt Rückschlüsse zu, welche Bedeutung lokale Wohltätigkeit erlangen kann, wenn sie richtig gesteuert wird und nicht wie bislang oft im Teufelskreis von ad-hoc-Spenden oder Hilfen von Privatperson an Privatperson gefangen ist. Die Studie stellt außerdem eine Verbindung her zwischen lokalen Wohltätigkeits-Mechanismen, die meist auf religiösen und kulturellen Werten beruhen, und modernen Strukturen, wie etwa Gemeinde-Stiftungen oder Gemeinde-„waqf“, innerhalb derer die Spenden eine nachhaltige Veränderung bewirken können. Daher bietet diese Arbeit also eine umfassende wissenschaftliche Grundlage, die nicht nur ein besseres Verständnis, sondern auch den nachhaltiger Aus- und Aufbau lokaler Wohltätigkeitsstrukturen in Ägypten ermöglicht. Zentral ist dabei vor allem die Rolle lokaler, individueller Spenden, die beispielsweise für Stiftungen auf der Gemeindeebene eingesetzt, wesentlich zu einer nachhaltigen Entwicklung beitragen könnten – und das nicht nur in Ägypten, sondern in der gesamten arabischen Region. Als konkretes Ergebnis dieser Arbeit, wurde ein innovatives Modell entwickelt, dass neben den wissenschaftlichen Daten das Konzept der „waqf“ berücksichtigt. Der Wissenschaftlerin und einem engagierten Vorstand ist es auf dieser Grundlage gelungen, die Waqfeyat al Maadi Community Foundation (WMCF) zu gründen, die nicht nur ein Modell für eine Bürgerstiftung ist, sondern auch das tradierte Konzept der „waqf“ als praktikable und verbürgte Wohlstätigkeitsstruktur sinnvoll weiterentwickelt.<br>This work provides a solid theoretical base on philanthropy, religious giving (Islamic zakat, ‘ushour, Waqf -plural: awqaf-, Sadaqa and Christian tithes or ‘ushour), and their implications on giving trends, development work, social justice philanthropy. The field study (quantitative and qualitative) that supports the theoretical framework reflects at a national level the Egyptian public’s perceptions on philanthropy, social justice, human rights, giving and volunteering and other concepts that determine the peoples’ civic engagement. The statistics cover 2000 households, 200 Civil Society Organizations distributed all over Egypt and interviews donors, recipients, religious people and other stakeholders. The numbers reflect philanthropic trends and for the first time provide a monetary estimate of local philanthropy of over USD 1 Billion annually. The survey proves that the per capita share of philanthropy outweighs the per capita share of foreign economic assistance to Egypt, which implies the significance of local giving if properly channeled, and not as it is actually consumed in the vicious circle of ad-hoc, person to person charity. In addition, the study relates local giving mechanisms derived from religion and culture to modern actual structures, like community foundations or community waqf that could bring about sustainable change in the communities. In sum, the work provides a comprehensive scientific base to help understand- and build on local philanthropy in Egypt. It explores the role that local individual giving could play in achieving sustainable development and building a new wave of community foundations not only in Egypt but in the Arab region at large. As a tangible result of this thesis, an innovative model that revives the concept of waqf and builds on the study’s results was created by the researcher and a dedicated board of trustees who succeeded in establishing Waqfeyat al Maadi Community Foundation (WMCF) that not only introduces the community foundation model to Egypt, but revives and modernizes the waqf as a practical authentic philanthropic structure.

This thesis draws on David Harvey’s concept of “accumulation by dispossession” and an international political economy (IPE) approach centred on the institutional arrangements and power structures that privilege certain actors and values, in order to critique current capitalist practices of primitive accumulation by the global corporate extractive industry. The thesis examines how accumulation by dispossession by the global extractive industry is facilitated by the “free entry” or “free mining” principle. It does so by focusing on Canada as a leader in the global extractive industry and the spread of this country’s mining laws to other countries – in other words, the transnationalisation of norms in the global extractive industry – so as to maintain a consistent and familiar operating environment for Canadian extractive companies. The transnationalisation of norms is further promoted by key international institutions such as the World Bank, which is also the world’s largest development lender and also plays a key role in shaping the regulations that govern natural resource extraction. The thesis briefly investigates some Canadian examples of resource extraction projects, in order to demonstrate the weaknesses of Canadian mining laws, particularly the lack of protection of landowners’ rights under the free entry system and the subsequent need for “free, prior and informed consent” (FPIC). The thesis also considers some of the challenges to the adoption and implementation of the right to FPIC. These challenges include embedded institutional structures like the free entry mining system, international political economy (IPE) as shaped by international institutions and powerful corporations, as well as concerns regarding ‘local’ power structures or the legitimacy of representatives of communities affected by extractive projects. The thesis concludes that in order for Canada to be truly recognized as a leader in the global extractive industry, it must establish legal norms domestically to ensure that Canadian mining companies and residents can be held accountable when there is evidence of environmental and/or human rights violations associated with the activities of Canadian mining companies abroad. The thesis also concludes that Canada needs to address underlying structural issues such as the free entry mining system and implement FPIC, in order to curb “accumulation by dispossession” by the extractive industry, both domestically and abroad.

<p>Poverty and inequality are deeply entrenched in Kenya, with the country being one of the most unequal countries in the world. To eradicate poverty and inequality, enhance the achievement of social justice, fast-track human development, as well as to entrench participatory democracy<br /> and a culture of justification in governance, Kenya has, for the first time, entrenched justiciable socio-economic rights (SERs) in its 2010 Constitution. In this thesis, I undertake a critical analysis of the prospects for the implementation and enforcement of the entrenched SERs as well as the probable challenges that Kenya may face in their realisation. In this endeavour, the thesis develops a theoretical and interpretive approach for the realisation of these entrenched SERs. It entails an expansive analysis of the nature, scope, content and extent of the SERs entrenched in the 2010 Kenyan Constitution, and especially the place of international human rights obligations contained in customs and ratified international human rights treaties due to the provisions of the 2010 Constitution which espouse the direct application of international law in Kenya&rsquo<br>s domestic legal system. It is submitted in this thesis that in order to improve the socio-economic conditions of the poor, vulnerable and marginalised groups in Kenya, there is a need for their socio-economic as well as political empowerment to enable them to effectively take part in societal decision-making in both the public and private spheres with regard to resource (re)distribution. The theory of dialogical constitutionalism, based on the constitutionally entrenched principle of popular participation in governance and public decision-making, is aimed at the realisation of both political and socio-economic empowerment of these groups. Even though the theory of dialogical constitutionalism underscores the importance of litigation in the achievement of the transformative aspirations of the 2010 Kenyan Constitution contained in the entrenched SERs, it acknowledges that litigation is not the panacea of SER enforcement, and that other political and advocacy strategies play an important role in the emancipation of the socio-economically deprived groups in society. The thesis thus advocates a multi-pronged strategy which espouses the equal participation of all sectors of society in a collaborative and cooperative deliberative effort aimed at the full realisation of the entrenched SERs. To accompany the above theoretical framework for the interpretation and implementation of the entrenched SERs, the thesis further proposes a transformative and integrated approach which combines the progressive aspects of the minimum core approachand the reasonableness approach. This is an approach of purposive interpretion which, in the first instance, envisages the courts undertaking a strict and searching scrutiny of the SER implementation framework developed by the political institutions of the State to ensure that sufficient provision has been made for the basic necessities of the most poor and vulnerable groups in society, basically the espousal of a minimum core content approach. The approach entails the requirement that should the SER implementation framework fail to provide this basic minimum to vulnerable groups, and the political institutions do not provide a substantive justification as to the failure, then the courts should find the relevant SER implementation<br /> framework per se unreasonable and thus invalid. However, should the implementation framework provide sufficiently for the basic essentials for vulnerable groups, the courts should then proceed to review it using the reasonableness standards that have been developed by the<br /> South African Constitutional Court. The rationale for this searching analysis is the acknowledgement that if the needs and interests of the most indigent and marginalised in society are not catered for, the entire corpus of rights in the Bill of Rights becomes redundant. The thesis then undertakes a case study of two rights, the right to food and the right to housing, using the theoretical and interpretive approaches developed in the previous chapters of the thesis. On food security, the thesis finds that Kenya is a food insecure country with a declining food production capacity. This is basically due to a lack of subsidy to farmers, global warming leading to intermittent rainfall, lack of investment in sustainable agriculture as well as a fragmented and contradictory legislative and policy agenda. In response to this situation, the thesis proposes the adoption of a livelihoods approach to food security in Kenya, based on the constitutionally entrenched right to food and other supporting rights. This approach advocates the enhancement of the food entitlements of the different sectors of the Kenyan society to ensure their access to adequate and nutritious food, be it through self-production or through the market. On the right to housing, the thesis finds that housing plays a crucial role in ensuring that people are able to have a holistic, dignified and valuable existence. However, Kenya faces a dire housing situation, with the majority of Kenyans, both in rural and urban areas lacking adequate shelter and sanitary conditions, evidenced by the large informal settlements in urban areas and the squatter phenomenon in rural areas. With the entrenchment of a justiciable right to adequate housing in the 2010 Constitution, the study finds that several legislative and policy reforms are underway to improve the housing situation, with efforts being made to draft theLandlord and Tenant Bill 2007, the Housing Bill 2011, the Evictions and Resettlement Guidelines and the Evictions and Resettlement Procedures Bill, 2012, among others. The thesis proposes that these legal reforms must be undertaken within an environment of cooperative and<br /> collaborative strategic partnership involving all sectors of society so as to ensure that the housing concerns as well as interests of all are catered for.</p>

Liberal theory depends for such coherence and consistency as it possesses upon the exclusion of human relationships from its theoretical structure. Classic social contract theory affirmed a contract between households, not individuals, each household being represented by its male head. This theoretical structure guaranteed a realm of private freedom to all (male) individuals and precluded the extension of legal principles to family life. To the extent that the premises of such theories are accepted, including the existence of a marital contract which pre-existed the social contract and eradicated the civil capacity of women, a foundation was available for a coherent regime of family law affirming masculine interests. The relegation of human relationships to the private sphere enabled the affirmation of autonomy and, independence. The legal relationship between the head of the household and his wife and children was proprietary, and it was this proprietary connection upon which the doctrine of family privacy depended. Contemporary liberal egalitarian theorists such as Rawls and Dworkin face very different problems. While women are now fully part of civil society and rank equally as citizens, neither has considered the full implications of that recognition for the distinction both wish to sustain between the public and private spheres. Rather, they have introduced a new theoretical distinction and argue that they have broken with the pre-suppositions of classic liberal theory in seeking to offer an account of justice which is political merely and devoid of wider epistemological and metaphysical assumptions. By arguing that their account of the individual is entirely political, applies only to the individual as citizen, they seek to distance themselves from the traditional liberal account of the individual as autonomous and independent and defeat communitarian claims that liberalism is hostile towards certain conceptions of the good life. The compartmentalization implied by such an account of justice, its explicit denial that roles other than that of citizen are relevant to equality, renders it irrelevant to women. It is argued that to the extent that women of every social class remain less advantaged than their male counterparts, the foundation of their inequality lies in the gender roles characteristic of our culture and the normative role these play in legal and political institutions. Both Dworkin and Rawls tacitly assume the male gender role characteristic of late capitalist society as normative. This renders the inequality of women invisible, characterizes it as a product of individual choices in work, leisure and consumption. To the extent that the theoretical individual is recast in gender neutral terms, compelling recognition of the fact that the 'private responsibilities' associated with the female gender role form the foundation for economic and social inequality, the distinction between public and private is collapsed and an account of the just family becomes essential. When an account of the just family is constructed, using the premises of egalitarian theory as the foundation, it becomes essential to extend ordinary legal principles to the family. This move, in turn, compels acknowledgment of the fact that, at least with respect to women and the family, the concrete tastes and preferences liberalism seeks to affirm have their roots in the inegalitarian attitudes it deems illegitimate.

South Africa's transition to constitutional democracy marked the end of a system of government that perpetuated injustice on the basis of race. The previous system of government, underpinned by the principle of parliamentary supremacy, did not only exclude the majority of the population from public governance processes, it also economically exploited the majority of the population. As such, it laid the foundation for widespread poverty and inequalities in access to basic services. The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996 (the Constitution), is committed to correcting these past injustices and aims to establish a society based on social justice. This constitutional vision finds expression in the notion of transformative constitutionalism. Klare introduced the notion of transformative constitutionalism over a decade ago. For purpose of this thesis, the notion represents the socio-economic and political vision of post-apartheid South Africa to eradicate extreme poverty and inequalities in access to basic services as well as establish a democratic system of government that is inclusive, caring, participatory, representative and accountable. It captures the constitutional commitment to establish and maintain a society based on social justice by inter alia, eradicating poverty and inequalities in access to social services. The realisation of the socio-economic rights entrenched in the Bill of Rights of the Constitution (by all organs of state) is one of the ways in which to contribute towards meeting this transformative constitutional mandate, and by extension, striving towards the attainment of social justice. Although transformative constitutionalism and the achievement of a socially just society remain an ideal, the Constitution as the supreme law in the country, obligates the state, constitutive of public and private entities, to work towards its realisation, to the fullest extent possible. As part of post-apartheid institutional transformation, the Constitution established three spheres of government – national, provincial and local - which are distinct, interrelated and interdependent. All three spheres are obliged to operate in accordance with the principles of co-operative government and intergovernmental relations and are co-responsible for realising a number of constitutional objectives. Since 1996, the Constitution obliges local government (municipalities) to play an expanded "developmental" role. This has marked a move away from local government being regarded as merely a service delivery arm of government. xii The extended function of local government that came about with the constitutional dispensation finds expression in the notion of "developmental local government". This study is based on the premise that developmental local government must and can, together with the authorities in the other two spheres, contribute to transformative constitutionalism and social justice. Primarily, this study questions the extent to which the legal and policy framework on local government in South Africa enable local government (municipalities) to contribute towards realising the constitutional socio-economic rights underpinning the mandate of transformative constitutionalism. This study presents a review of relevant literature in order to establish links between the theoretical concepts underpinning this thesis. It examines the legal and policy framework on "developmental" local government in South Africa and analyses the central legal framework for the realisation of socio-economic rights at the local government level. In addition, the study explores the relevance and potential of local government indigent policies and Integrated Development Plans (IDPs) - as legally prescribed governance instruments - in contributing towards a more just society by examining their underlying legal and policy framework. It further distils from the theories and perspectives of social justice, benchmarks to guide local government towards achieving the transformative constitutional mandate aimed at social justice. Based on the legal, policy and other gaps identified, recommendations are made on how to optimise the potential of IDPs and municipal indigent policies in contributing towards achieving social justice.<br>PhD (Law), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

Ontario’s current regulatory approach to low-income housing lies between two primary challenges: the human right to housing, and political/fiscal constraints. This thesis draws on legal theory and economic analysis of law to articulate the proper goals of housing access policy. A structural theory is proposed to explain the normative relationship between efficiency, communitarianism and justice in housing. An array of regulatory options are compared and considered in light of the features that characterize Ontario’s low-income rental housing markets. This analysis favours demand-side housing subsidies to low-income households, combined with supply-side tax expenditures to improve elasticity in the low-income rental market. Further reform of rent and covenant controls, social and affordable housing supply, and land use planning is recommended to ensure an efficient residential tenancy market. These reforms are offered as a framework for the implementation of the human right to housing in Ontario.