Law of Human Rights and Social Justice

A special issue of Laws (ISSN 2075-471X). This special issue belongs to the section "Human Rights Issues".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 August 2016) | Viewed by 38846

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Cardiff Law School, Museum Avenue, Cardiff CF10 3AX, UK
Interests: human rights law; international refugee law; equality law; public law

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue of Laws focuses on human rights and social justice and seeks to consider to what extent law generally and more specifically human rights, can address societal inequality. There is a growing body of literature on social justice, especially at a time when states are under economic pressures and evidence in some developed states, such as the UK, suggests poverty is increasing at a time when “austerity” measures have reduced welfare provision. Concerns about access to justice have arisen where states have decreased or removed legal aid or limited access to a court. Human Rights have been seen as a tool to achieve social justice. However, what “types of rights” can be utilised is debated and the ability of economic, social and cultural rights to achieve social justice is questioned. Papers in this Special Issue may address, among other topics, the following questions: What do we mean by social justice? How can human rights discourse be used to measure social justice/injustice? Can human rights be an effective tool to achieve social justice? Should economic, social and cultural rights be legally enforceable? Does human rights discourse inhibit social justice? Has the development of human rights and equality protections provided greater social justice for various groups such as ethnic minorities, gender, disability, LGBTI, religious groups, asylum seekers and refugees, children, etc.?

Dr. Bernadette Rainey
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • Human rights
  • Social justice
  • Welfare provision
  • equality
  • inequality
  • discrimination
  • access to justice
  • poverty
  • gender
  • disability
  • minorities
  • LGBTI

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

211 KiB  
Article
Human Rights and Social Justice
by Neil Hibbert
Laws 2017, 6(2), 7; https://doi.org/10.3390/laws6020007 - 16 Jun 2017
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 25024
Abstract
This paper addresses the question of the normative domains of human rights and social justice. Today, the dominant view in political philosophy is that they occupy largely distinct spheres, with social justice being a set of stronger egalitarian norms and human rights functioning [...] Read more.
This paper addresses the question of the normative domains of human rights and social justice. Today, the dominant view in political philosophy is that they occupy largely distinct spheres, with social justice being a set of stronger egalitarian norms and human rights functioning as baseline protections against common threats posed by states to the general interests of persons subjected to them. Reflecting on current human rights practice and discourse, this paper develops a reconstructed normative model of social justice and human rights as nested membership norms in political societies. By connecting membership to processes of political legitimacy, human rights are conceptualized as increasingly functioning as the language of contesting and reforming barriers of exclusion to that status. This leads to an understanding of the possible content of human rights that is dynamic and relational, bringing it closer in line with the egalitarianism of social justice. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Law of Human Rights and Social Justice)
269 KiB  
Article
What Has Limited the Impact of UK Disability Equality Law on Social Justice?
by Rupert Harwood
Laws 2016, 5(4), 42; https://doi.org/10.3390/laws5040042 - 9 Nov 2016
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 13407
Abstract
The literature indicates that disabled workers in the UK experience more social injustice than UK workers as a whole, including in relation to employment rates and wage levels. Drawing on the author’s 2015 qualitative study of 265 disabled workers, this paper considers how [...] Read more.
The literature indicates that disabled workers in the UK experience more social injustice than UK workers as a whole, including in relation to employment rates and wage levels. Drawing on the author’s 2015 qualitative study of 265 disabled workers, this paper considers how successful the Equality Act 2010 Reasonable Adjustments Duty has been in tackling this social injustice. It finds that in the context of the “flexible” labour force (consisting of insecure jobs), and the “reformed” welfare state, the Reasonable Adjustments Duty is ill-equipped to achieve its original purpose of reducing the substantial disadvantage that disabled workers face. As regards the “flexible” labour force, there appeared, for example, to be a strong reluctance to make reasonable adjustments for workers on zero hours contracts; while, as regards the impact of welfare reform, fear of being dismissed and facing benefit sanctions discouraged zero hours workers from pushing for adjustments which had been refused. The paper goes on to suggest a possible wording for a strengthened Reasonable Adjustments Duty. It concludes, however, that, without changes to unfair dismissal, and other labour laws, to address the wider iniquities of the flexible labour market, a strengthened duty will not be able to prevent a long term increase in social injustice for disabled workers. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Law of Human Rights and Social Justice)
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