Concretizing “progressive realization”- A new perspective on assessing the state fulfillment on econ

ABSTRACT:

There is a growing demand for a widely vetted and broadly accepted indicator to measure achievements in the progressive realization of economic, social and cultural rights due to the ambiguity and uncertainty on the principle of ‘progressive realization’ embedded on article 2(1) of the ICESCR. Different indicators have been developed, such as the Maastricht Violation principle, the Minimum Core Obligation and the Social and Economic Rights Fulfillment Index (SERF). In this essay, I propose that the existing indicators are neither adequate nor accurate in concretizing the gist of “progressive realization”. I aim to propose a new indicator to measure the state fulfillment on ESC rights obligation, which is called the “Progressive Obligations Standard”.